Poppy Books & Gifts Sidewalk Chalkboard, Robert Gray's Deeper Understanding of Generations of Readers, QOTD from Wanda Sykes, Across the River and Into the Trees Movie, The Gifts by Liz Hyder, The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble, The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Bernard Goldberg and Back Lash by Devon Monk

Greetings fellow page turners and book sniffers! Welcome to the last post of May, as we're already on the cusp of June and Gemini territory! My former best friend RM Larson was a huge reader and bibliophile, like myself, and her birthday was June 1 (*she passed away over a decade ago), so I will be thinking of her on Thursday, and wishing that the two of us could discuss books and life and everything inbetween again...you never realize how important communicating with a good friend is until they're gone. Meanwhile, here's some tidbits and reviews to keep you busy before or after you've popped outside to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. 

Oh how I love it when bookstores post pithy responses to Amazon's dominance of the book biz. Go Poppy! 

Chalkboard: Poppy Books & Gifts

"Our staff is cuter than Jeff Bezos. #ShopLocal" was the sidewalk chalkboard message outside Poppy Books & Gifts https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWMk7oI6ahndREjGQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSXpLypoMLg-gVdw, Spanish Fork, Utah, which posted on Instagram: "Want to know why books on Amazon are so much cheaper than any bookstore? They sell books for nearly 0% profit, and occasionally at a loss, in order to price out small bookstores. Their hope is that the competition will be eliminated, and they'll be able control the market and bump up the price of books to what they are in reality. GROSS! If you appreciate personalized recommendations, keeping money circulating in your local economy, cute displays, talking books with other book-loving people, or even the experience of going to the bookstore, support your local indie bookstore today so we're here tomorrow!"

I agree that generational labels can be quite divisive, pitting one age group against another, at a time when we really need to come together to solve many of the crisis facing American society today. As a person born toward the end of the Baby Boom following WWII, I can honestly say that those born in 1960-64 are different than those born right after the war in 45-46. My mother was born just before the war, in 1937, and her outlook on life is vastly different than my own, doubtless due to being raised during the last gasp of the Great Depression on a farm in Iowa. I was born in a small town, and we moved around a lot until I got into Jr High School, but I was raised in town, surrounded by stores and people and not by corn or soybean crops and farm animals. I also had the good fortune of having parents who were invested in my education and educational opportunities, so I was encouraged to be a frequent flyer at all the local libraries and bookstores. I agree with Robert Gray...we're all readers here!

Deeper Understanding

Robert Gray: Millennial, Gen Z, Gen X, Boomer? How About... Reader?

Millennial, Gen Z, Gen X, Boomer. Noting that "generational research has become a crowded arena," Pew Research Center https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWMk7oI6ahndRB2Gg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSXpLypoMLg-gVdw announced this week it had "decided to take a step back and consider how we can study generations in a way that aligns with our values of accuracy, rigor and providing a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue."

PRC added that the "field has been flooded with content that's often sold as research but is more like clickbait or marketing mythology. There's also been a growing chorus of criticism about generational research and generational labels in particular."

I've never liked the term Boomer, so I see this small change of focus by PRC as progress. If I have to have a tag, I'd prefer Reader, and hope this transcends generational labels. Of course I know that it doesn't, but as a Reader I can still imagine it does. That's one of the benefits of reading, along with time travel, which also defies generational labels. To address the issue, PRC spoke with outside experts, including those who have been publicly critical of its generational analysis; and invested in methodological testing to determine whether it could compare findings from earlier telephone surveys to the online ones being conducted now. Experiments were also conducted with higher-level statistical analyses that would isolate the effect of generation.

The process led to a set of guidelines that PRC believes "will help frame our approach going forward. Many of these are principles we've always adhered to, but others will require us to change the way we've been doing things in recent years.... By choosing not to use the standard generational labels when they're not appropriate, we can avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes or oversimplifying people's complex lived experiences.... We'll only talk about generations when it adds value, advances important national debates and highlights meaningful societal trends."

PRC also released an article noting that while it can be useful to talk about generations, there are some important considerations for readers to keep in mind whenever they come across a news story or research about generations:

* Generational categories are not scientifically defined.

* Generational labels can lead to stereotypes and oversimplification.

* Discussions about generation often focus on differences instead of similarities.

* Conventional views of generations can carry an upper-class bias.

* People change over time.

Reading the news from PRC triggered memories of a couple of SA columns I wrote in 2008 about Boomers and the book trade. Specifically, I recalled this sentence: "Boomers will age, but they won't grow old." Although it would make a fine clickbait headline now, it's actually from a book titled Generation Ageless: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Live Today... and They're Just Getting Started by J. Walker Smith & Ann Clurman.

I was probably intrigued by the title then, but 15 years later it seems like speculative fiction. "Baby boomers, more than any other demographic group, will shape the future of the marketplace," the authors wrote. "They are in control and will remain so for decades to come. For boomers, getting older does not mean resigning oneself to a deceleration into death. They will continue to be actively involved in their lifestyles, spending lots of money and searching for more new things to try.... Boomers will age, but they won't grow old."

Spoiler alert: We did grow old. In 2008, I wrote, "Cue the theme music from Jaws. Baby Boomers are in the retail waters and they're not leaving soon. Will they still be reading in 2018 or 2028 or 2038? Yes. Will they still be buying books in bricks-and-mortar bookstores? Maybe."

As it turns out, they/we are still buying books from indies, and continued to do so even through a global pandemic. Fifteen years ago, I suggested that "the book world will have to find a way to surf Boomer-infested waters. One of the questions I initially asked readers was whether tech-savvy BBs will be transferring their book reading and buying habits to an online environment by the year 2018."

At the time, one bookseller predicted that while some Boomers might gravitate to an online reading life by 2018, "bricks-and-mortar stores have less likelihood of losing them to the ether than we do the younger generations. They want to talk about what they know about--in person. They want the interaction that the cozy independent bookstore can offer. I think this is the generation that may be doing their research online, but we'll still get the pleasure of their company. Until mobility becomes an issue. Then you start delivering."

Boomers in general may re-invent themselves over and over out of excitement or new enthusiasms; indie booksellers must re-invent themselves continuously to stay alive. The world is dynamic, and bookselling is a challenging way of life."

Millennial, Gen Z, Gen X, Boomer. Just call me Reader. And cue the #BookTok video.--Robert Gray, contributing editor

AMEN to Wanda! YES!

Quotation of the Day

"Until a drag queen walks into a school and beats eight kids to death

with a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, I think you're focusing on the

wrong shit." --Wanda Sykes in her new Netflix special, Wanda Sykes: I'm an Entertainer

Though I'm not a huge Papa Hem fan, I think this movie sounds fascinating.

Movies: Across the River and Into the Trees

Across the River and Into the Trees https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWOluQI6ahmJh5xTw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSXJespoMLg-gVdw, the long-awaited Ernest Hemingway adaptation starring Liev Schreiber (Spotlight), Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right), and Danny Huston (The Aviator), has set North American release plans with Bleecker Street, Deadline reported. Based on the last full-length novel published by Hemingway in his lifetime, the film is directed by Paula Ortiz (The Bride) and will bow exclusively in theaters this fall. It was adapted for the screen by BAFTA Award winner Peter Flannery (The Devil's Mistress).

The Gifts by Liz Hyder is a historical speculative fantasy fiction novel that combines the gut-wrenching misogyny of The Handmaid's Tale with the 19th Century Steampunk-ish milieu of Sherlock Holmes stories. There's also a great underlying theme of the religious oppression of women (and men, though they tend to use God as an excuse for the most horrific behavior, here) and the existence of Angels as metaphor for their desperation for freedom. Here's the blurb:

"Remarkable...for fans of fantasy-inflected historical novels such as Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent." —Publishers Weekly

It will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are...

October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in the English countryside as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders.

In London, rumors of a "fallen angel" cause a frenzy across the city, and a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grips of a dangerous obsession, one that will place the women he seeks in the most terrible danger.

The Gifts is an astonishing novel, a spellbinding tale told through five different perspectives and set against the luminous backdrop of nineteenth century London, it explores science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society and the dark danger of ambition. 

This is, to be blunt, a weighty tome of a novel that could easily have had 95 pages edited out of it with the result being a much tidier book that didn't have all the redundancies and gushing descriptions of nature that ground the plot to a halt. While I understand the author wanting to write in the style of the 19th century, with all it's furbelows and fancies, there was no need to hew so closely to that standard, especially considering the modern message of women's freedom that was being told here. That said, I was really hoping for the death of the surgeon Edward to be one involving dismemberment and pain, giving him the same torture he inflicted on others. Still, burning to death isn't an easy way to go. (Sorry, SPOILER!). I also thought his wife was a complete ninny, and was kind of hoping she'd die of being such a wimpy lame-ass coward. Anyway, in the end, people get where they need to go, and though we will never know their final fate, I had hopes that the "angels" lived long and happy lives. I can't say that I didn't find the prose a bit much and the plot to be slow-going at times, so my final grade has to be a B-, and I'm being generous. Next time, I think the author needs to leave out all the boring and horrific descriptions and just tell the story, plain and simple. 

The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble is a lovely historical novel with an undercurrent of romance that takes place at the turn of the 20th century in New York and Paris. The story focuses on Louis Comfort Tiffany's glorious glass creations that were made and sometimes designed by a group of women artisans known as "Tiffany Girls." Here's the blurb:

New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble wows with a gripping historical novel about the real-life “Tiffany Girls,” a fascinating and largely unknown group of women artists behind Tiffany’s most legendary glassworks.

It’s 1899, and Manhattan is abuzz. Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World’s Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women’s Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world’s finest artist in glass. Known as the “Tiffany Girls,” these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany’s extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit.

Emilie Pascal, daughter of an art forger, has been shunned in Paris art circles after the unmasking of her abusive father. Wanting nothing more than a chance to start a new life, she forges a letter of recommendation in hopes of fulfilling her destiny as an artist in the one place where she will finally be free to live her own life.

Grace Griffith is the best copyist in the studio, spending her days cutting glass into floral borders for Tiffany’s religious stained-glass windows. But none of her coworkers know her secret: she is living a double life as a political cartoonist under the pseudonym of G.L. Griffith—hiding her identity as a woman.

As manager of the women’s division, Clara Driscoll is responsible for keeping everything on schedule and within budget. But in the lead-up to the most important exhibition of her career, not only are her girls becoming increasingly difficult to wrangle, she finds herself obsessed with a new design: a dragonfly lamp that she has no idea will one day become Tiffany’s signature piece.

Brought together by chance, driven by their desire to be artists in one of the only ways acceptable for women in their time, these “Tiffany Girls” will break the glass ceiling of their era and for working women to come. 

Noble's prose is as prismatic and beautiful as Tiffany glass, and her plot is light and bright and moves along like a cloud swooping along on a blue sky. I enjoyed her female characters and how feisty they were in trying to establish themselves as artists and designers. I really enjoyed Grace's story, being a former journalist myself, and Emilie's story of escaping a terrible parent and a bad time to reinvent herself also rang true for me, as I escaped my parents ruinous divorce by moving away to college. I also learned a lot about glass-making and the layering of colored glass to reflect light that is breathtakingly beautiful. The ending was satisfying and the book itself compelling enough to keep me reading into the wee hours. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed the beauty and artistry of a Tiffany window or lamp or other product.

The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Bernard Goldberg is a fantasy reboot of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, only this time with an illegitimate daughter solving the crime like her redoubtable father would have done, with deductive reasoning. They throw in an ancient Dr Watson, and his handsome adult son to spice things up and add an air of legitimacy to the proceedings, but I still found myself balking at the idea that Holmes would have had an affair, no matter how brief, with Irene Adler, whom he felt admiration for, but was also very competitive with during their encounters in the AC Doyle tales. Holmes also struck me as gay at best, and asexual at worst (for the era...there's nothing wrong with asexual individuals, IMO). At any rate, here's the blurb: From USA Today and internationally bestselling author Leonard Goldberg comes The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, a new thrilling tale of the great detective’s daughter and her companion Dr. John Watson, Jr. as they investigate a murder at the highest levels of British society.

1914. Joanna Blalock’s keen mind and incredible insight lead her to become a highly-skilled nurse, one of the few professions that allow her to use her finely-tuned brain. But when she and her ten-year-old son witness a man fall to his death, apparently by suicide, they are visited by the elderly Dr. John Watson and his charming, handsome son, Dr. John Watson Jr. Impressed by her forensic skills, they invite her to become the third member of their investigative team.

Caught up in a Holmesian mystery that spans from hidden treasure to the Second Afghan War of 1878-1880, Joanna and her companions must devise an ingenious plan to catch a murderer in the act while dodging familiar culprits, Scotland Yard, and members of the British aristocracy. Unbeknownst to her, Joanna harbors a mystery of her own. The product of a one-time assignation between the now dead Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, the only woman to ever outwit the famous detective, Joanna has unwittingly inherited her parents’ deductive genius. 

Though I generally don't have a problem with romance or romantic themes in books, here the younger Dr Watson falling immediately under the spell of Holme's daughter seems forced. Especially considering Joanna has a young son to look after (she's a widow). Watson Jr seems to be an afterthought, and none to bright in most of the scenes he's in, with his father and Joanna doing most of the work to solve the crime (which many will have figured out by around halfway through the novel). The prose was a bit stodgy, but the plot didn't flag at all, and the ending was fairly well done. I'd give this mystery a B-, and recommend it to anyone who longs for a female Sherlock Holmes.

Back Lash by Devon Monk is the re-edited latest book out in the Shame and Terric urban fantasy series that Monk premiered back in the 90s. Though I loved it on the first reading, this newly enhanced version is sublime, with not a whisker out of place and a plot that is like a bullet train headed to the station. Here's the blurb: 

Magic isn’t a blessing with drawbacks, it’s a curse with upsides.

Shame Flynn and Terric Conley hadn't meant to become the living, breathing vessels for Death and Life magic. But they hadn't meant to die, be reborn, break magic, save the world, and kill a few psychopaths along the way, either.
The one thing they had meant to do was to seal magic away so it could never be used to kill again.
When a string of dead bodies–people killed by magic–appear throughout Portland, Oregon, Shame and Terric must scramble to uncover who broke the locks on magic and how.
Before Terric’s sister becomes the next target.
Before the Russian mob locks them in their sights.
Before the question of who can control magic is decided by bullets and blood.  

I love Shame, and his death magic that he tries desperately to control, not always successfully. Terric's life magic also has it's problems, but they're not as entertaining as Shame's, because his magic is barely controlled destruction. And people in pain are somehow always more interesting than the kind and lovely people who come around to heal and help everyone in the wake of the latest devastation. (Why is that? Why do we always want to see what happened when cars or trains or planes crash?) That said, as with all of Devon Monk's books, there is so much beauty and tenderness under the pain and suffering that it's hard to put her books down. I'd give this wonderful novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read her Allie B urban fantasy series and wants to know whatever happened to Shame and Terric after they shut down magic for good. Trust me, you will be engrossed and fascinated by the answer.

Let Me Speak Celebration/Benefit in November, The Thing With Feathers Movie, Martin Amis Obituary, The Salt Path Movie, Florida Bans Amanda Gorman Poem, Atalanta by Jennifer Saint, The Friday Night Club by MJ Rose et al, A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair, The Wayward Wizard by Alesha Escobar and Green Gryphon by JS Kennedy

Welcome friends! It's almost June already, and here we are with another installment of what's DeAnn reading and writing reviews about? LOL! This month we lost Martin Amis and the fabulous Tina Turner, who worked for nearly 50 years to become the singing and dancing icon that she was. I remember seeing her in "Tommy" and marveling at her ability to sing, dance and act...a triple threat! I hope she's rocking out in heaven. RIP. Meanwhile I've been struggling with my Crohns and reading up a storm both in hardback/paperback form and in ebook format, where there's a lot of bargains to be had.

This has really become a problem that's gotten national attention lately, censorship and the right-wing, so-called "Christian" fascists who are attempting to white-wash literature (especially children's books) of any mention of race or racism, LBGTQ characters and anti-semitism, the likes of which we've not seen since the second world war. We must stop this horrendous attack against freedom of speech and the press.

The National Coalition Against Censorship plans "Let Me Speak" a celebration and annual benefit for free speech and its defenders November 13 in New York City. Author, producer, and rapper Raj Haldar will host. Free speech defender award recipients include John Sargent, former CEO of Macmillan, and Juno Dawson, author of among other titles, the often-banned This Book Is Gay. Benefit co-chairs include longtime First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams and Audrey Barsella, communications manager at Sourcebooks.

This movie sounds really exciting! I can hardly wait to see it when it debuts...Benedict Cumberbatch is a favorite British actor of mine.

Movies: The Thing With Feathers

Benedict Cumberbatch will star in writer and director Dylan Southern's adaptation of Max Porter's 2016 novel Grief Is the Thing With Feathers, Deadline reported. Titled The Thing With Feathers https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWJl78I6ahnJBF2SQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSW5b3poMLg-gVdw, the film is produced by Andrea Cornwell with SunnyMarch's Adam Ackland and Leah Clarke. The script was developed with Film4, which will executive produce and co-finance. The crow figure featured in the book will be created for the screen in collaboration with the sculptor Nicola Hicks.

"Having been a huge fan of Max Porter's extraordinary book and Enda Walsh's stage adaptation I was skeptical about a film adaptation. But the experience of reading Dylan Southern's adaptation rekindled the cinematic memory of reading this most visceral tale of a family consumed by grief," said Cumberbatch. "Dylan has handled the deftness of Max's kinetic poetry masterfully. It's so well realized both on the page and in the deck and pitch. It holds all the wildly sharp turns of changing tones and colors between the domestic and mythic, between the despair, comedy, and every day of loss. It's a thrilling read, and I couldn't be more excited to be taking Dylan's cinematic vision of it to the big screen."

Porter praised Southern's sensitivity to the different layers of the original story, noting: "Dylan understands how this story is just as much about domesticity, awkward humor, the silly, fun and strange routines of raising children, as it is about inexplicable rage and pain. In Crow he has created something wild, a cinematic monster unlike anything else."

RIP to the witty and acerbic Martin Amis.

Obituary Note: Martin Amis

Martin Amis https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWKnuoI6ahnd011Hw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSWJ-ipoMLg-gVdw, "whose caustic, erudite and bleakly comic novels redefined British fiction in the 1980s and '90s with their sharp appraisal of tabloid culture and consumer excess, and whose private life made him tabloid fodder himself," died May 19, the New York Times reported. He was 73.

Amis published 15 novels, a well-regarded memoir (Experience, in 2000), works of nonfiction, and collections of essays and short stories. He is best known for his London trilogy of novels: Money: A Suicide Note (1985), London Fields (1990), and The Information (1995). Amis's most recent book was the "novelized autobiography" Inside Story (2020), which was shortlisted for the National Book Critics' Circle award for fiction.

Amis's fame "built to a crescendo in the mid-1990s. One 'scandal,' as chronicled in English tabloids like the Daily Mail, followed the next," the Times noted, adding that in 1994, he dropped his longtime agent, Pat Kavanagh, for the rival agent Andrew Wylie, "whom the British press nicknamed 'the Jackal,' and a larger advance on a novel. The amount Mr. Amis wanted, a reported $794,500 (about $1.6 million today), was deemed unseemly." 

Ultimately, however, it was about the writing. Amis's 1984 novel Money was named by Robert McCrum in the Guardian as among the 100 best novels written in English. McCrum called it a "zeitgeist book that remains one of the dominant novels of the 1980s.... The thrill of Money, which is turbo-charged with savage humor from first to last page, is Amis's prodigal delight in contemporary Anglo-American vernacular."

Amis published his first novel, the Somerset Maugham Award-winning The Rachel Papers (1973), while working as an editorial assistant at the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian reported. His darkly comic Dead Babies was published the following year. He worked as the literary editor of the New Statesman between 1977 and 1979, during which time he published his third novel, Success.

Amis was often compared with his Booker Prize-winning father, Kingsley Amis. Though Martin Amis made the 1991 Booker shortlist for Time's Arrow and was longlisted in 2003 for Yellow Dog, he never won. He once told BBC Radio 4 he wished he had put "greater distance" between himself and his father, with the "Amis franchise" becoming "something of a burden." He eventually wrote about his father's death in his memoir, Experience (2000)

In a tribute, author Geoff Dyer wrote, "I suspect it's difficult for anyone under the age of... what? 30? 40?--to comprehend the thrall Martin Amis exerted on writers now in their 50s or above. One might have to insert a qualifying 'male' here. Or go the other way, stop generalizing and say how thoroughly he had me in his thrall throughout the 1980s and '90s. There were writers I admired more but he was more fun to read than all of them put together. I sat there aghast at his transformative impact on language.... Every page of his writing--in any form--was steeped in his consciousness and I was besotted by that consciousness in all its forms. I think that's why there was such a personality cult around Amis in a way that there could never be a cult of Julian Barnes or A.S. Byatt. Amis was Mick Jagger in literary form."

This is another movie that I can't wait to see...it sounds exciting.

 Movies: The Salt Path

Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs will star in the film adaptation of Raynor Winn's 2018 memoir, The Salt Path. Deadline reported that Tony and Olivier award-winning theater artist Marianne Elliott is making her screen-directing debut on the project, which is "about a couple who lose their home and days later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness as they embark on a year long coastal trek."

Anderson (The Crown, Sex Education) and Isaacs (Mass, The Death of  Stalin) will portray Raynor and her husband, Moth. Elliott has directed War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as well as seminal revivals of Angels In America, Company and Death of a Salesman in London and on Broadway.

In 2020, Elliott was in New York opening an acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company when the pandemic shuttered theaters. "I came back from America and I thought, 'Oh, my God is theater ever going to get back?' " she recalled, adding that she wondered if it was "the time for me to grab the opportunity to try and direct a film." Walking in London provided the inspiration.

If I were the gorgeous and brilliant Amanda Gorman, I'd be livid, too...they can't even get her name right, nor can they point to whatever in the poem makes them want to censor it...my guess is it's racism, that they've gussied up by trying to make it about book banning. I would also guess those wanting to ban it have never read it.

Amanda Gorman “Gutted” After Florida School Bans Biden Inauguration Poem

Poet Amanda Gorman has vowed to defeat book bans in Florida after her poem “The Hill We Climb” was banned in an educational institution in Miami-Dade county. Gorman read the poem at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. The poet says she was “gutted” to learn that a complaint from a single parent led to the poem being banned. The parent, who mistakenly listed Oprah Winfrey as the author of the poem, argued that the poem was “not educational and have indirectly hate messages.” In a post on Twitter, Gorman responded, “So they ban my book from young readers, confuse me with Oprah, fail to specify what parts of my poetry they object to, refuse to read any reviews, and offer no alternatives … Unnecessary book bans like these are on the rise, and we must fight back.”

Atalanta by Jennifer Saint is a retelling of the Greek Myth of Jason and his argonauts, with the added bonus of there being a young woman, an acolyte of Artemis, on board the ship that's sailing to find the golden fleece. This book is full of crisp, high quality prose that provides a swift ship for the plot to sail along to the surprise twist of an ending (which I will not spoil for you). Here's the blurb:

From the beloved, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne, a reimagining of the myth of Atalanta, a fierce huntress raised by bears and the only woman in the world’s most famous band of heroes, the Argonauts

Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero

When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.

Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis's warning, she begins to question the goddess's true intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world of men, while staying true to her heart?

Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, where she belongs.

This slender volume doesn't waste one word or puff one paragraph in telling it's enthralling tale. There's not even 300 pages here, yet the story is still so rich and full bodied that you can't stop turning pages to the very end. I felt bad for Atalanta, because she broke the one rule she'd sworn to the goddess that she wouldn't break, and sadly, it was all for naught. I will let you, future reader, figure out what that means. Meanwhile, I'd give this fascinating look into the workings of a Greek myth an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys mythology.

The Friday Night Club by Sofia Lundberg, Alyson Richman and MJ Rose is an inspiring fiction-based-on-fact look at the famed painter Hilma af Klint. There's a strong thread of historical romantic fiction here, and some beautiful looks behind the creation of famous works of art, and the often debauched artists who created them (who knew that so many famous male painters were complete misogynist asshats?) Here's the blurb:

While men have long been credited with producing the first abstract paintings, the true creator was actually a woman – Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, who was inspired by her mystic visions. Acclaimed authors Sofia Lundberg, Alyson Richman, and M.J. Rose bring her story to life in this groundbreaking novel.

 
Early 1900s: The world belongs to men, and the art world in Stockholm, Sweden, is no different, until Hilma af Klint brings together a mysterious group of female painters and writers—Anna, Cornelia, Sigrid, and Mathilda—to form their own emotional and artistic support system.  The members of the Friday Night Club find themselves thrust into uncharted territory when Hilma and her best friend, Anna, begin dabbling in the occult, believing that through séances they can channel unseen spirits to help them achieve their potential as artists. “The Five,” as Hilma referred to them, was a group of immensely talented, fascinating women whose lives and work were cast into obscurity...until now.
 
The Present: Over a century later, an associate curator at the Guggenheim Museum, Eben Elliot, brings the Hilma af Klint show to New York where he uncovers questions about the Five and how the modern day art world is funded, which puts him in a precarious position both emotionally and professionally, as he witnesses how history can be manipulated.
 
The Friday Night Club is an illuminating historical novel that explores destiny, passion, and the threads that connect five women as they challenge artistic and societal traditions.

The De Fem (the Five) group originally sounded intriguing, but soon devolved into one artist, Hilma, bullying the other artists into being her minions and painting her work for her, because of spiritualist nonsense prophecy spouted by one of the other group members. Through the undercurrent of hiding their true homosexual feelings under the guise of "freedom" for female artists, the three authors managed to display to readers the constant fear that women lived under at the time of being thought "unnatural" and "hysterical," which allowed male relations/husbands to have them committed to insane asylums or worse. I picked up this book at Island Books, mainly because I saw the name MJ Rose, one of my favorite authors, was attached to it. I've never heard of the other authors, and yet the three of them did a stellar job of bringing these artists and their world to life on the page. I'd give this somewhat uneven, but still fascinating book a B, and recommend it to those art historians who feel (rightly so) that female artists have historically been relegated to the shadows.

A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair was a very cheap find on Amazon that turned out to be a cozy fantasy that was worth thrice the price. This fantasy novel had me hooked from page one. It reads like the best kind of "finding your path YA story" without the whining of a privileged teenager. I found the prose to be spirited and spunky, while the plot whirred along like a clockwork automaton, and a well-oiled one at that. Here's the blurb:

When the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most of all: She leaves.

In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under the surface of this city—hidden magic, and hidden machinations—that threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way.

Miyara may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she'll risk her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.

A Coup of Tea is the first book of the Tea Princess Chronicles, a cozy fantasy series full of magic tea, friendship, and lifting people up even when the odds seem impossible.

Having come from a long line of tea-drinkers (from my great-grandmother on down), I thoroughly enjoyed all the discussions of the variety and flavors of tea, and the magical properties of the leaves and the pots that they steep in. Though Miyara is way too subservient, she really comes into her own as the book progresses, and the ending is truly delightful. I'd give this delicious cozy book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys tea, Japanese tea ceremonies and cozy fantasy.

The Wayward Wizard by Alesha Escobar is the first book in the Magic and Mayhem series, a short urban fantasy novel with a protagonist who is suspiciously similar to Harry Dresden, Chicago's finest wizard, and the creation of Jim Butcher. This ebook not only has many similarities to the Dresden Files, there's more than a bit of 80s buddy rom-coms around the plot. Here's the blurb:

I’m the last person a secret government agency wants to call for help.

I spend my days selling New Age trinkets to humans and my nights drinking with a street-hustling alchemist. Not exactly the law and order type. But when monsters from our childhood nightmares become flesh and blood, snatching people from the streets, I’m one of the few wizards alive who can uncover who’s behind it.

After losing my family in a fire and being whisked away by my caretaker to train at the Akashic Academy, my life was further turned upside down when I emerged from my final test to find three dead master wizards. Despite being cleared of all charges, most in my community believe I killed them.

They call me the Wayward Wizard.

I may be a black sheep among magic-users, but I deliver results. Which is why this secret agency has dragged me out of bed, slapped the bottle of whiskey out of my hand, and placed me with Alanna Reid. She’s their best (and most uptight) agent who’s been ordered to keep an eye on me and make sure I get the job done—or, put a bullet in me.

But as good as Alanna is, even she may not be prepared for what’s coming. And if I can’t shut down the mysterious wizard wielding stolen powers, then I have a demigod looking over my shoulder, salivating at the thought of bringing on the Apocalypse as punishment.

It’s like the teacher penalizing the entire class for one asshat’s actions, but on a cosmic level.

Since I like living, the choice is clear.

But something tells me that in unraveling the truth, I’ll also have to face my own monsters, which can be just as deadly.

Escobar's prose reads a lot like next level fan fiction, but the tightly knit plot soon takes it in hand and zoom, off they go. Because I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files, I enjoyed the heck out of the snarky dialog between the two protagonists, and the ending hit that sweet spot that all readers look for in their fantasy novel series. I'd give this ebook a B, and recommend it to anyone who is a Harry Dresden fan and enjoys witty banter.

Green Gryphon by JS Kennedy is the first Mackenzie Green book in a series of fantasy novels that are full of adventure, mystery and romance. Here's the blurb:

The Dragon Protector asking Mackenzie for a favor—Maybe the sky truly has fallen.

Mackenzie works for Catch and Release, a bounty-hunting guild, and she loves her job. She goes after the usual suspects: Rogue vampires, feral shifters, and crazed mages. Nightmare stuff.

The last thing she ever imagined was Lucan, an infuriating and high-ranking dragon shifter, hiring her to find a child kidnapped from his Tribe.

Even though her magical talents lean more towards bodyguarding and hunting dangerous beings, condemning a kid to death isn’t who she is.

But as Mackenzie gets deeper into her hunt, she uncovers deadly secrets surrounding the child, the kidnapper, and Lucan himself.

One thing’s for sure; when the going gets tough, Mackenzie gets dangerous!

Kennedy's prose is crystal clear and allows her twisty-turning roller coaster plot to do it's job and keep readers guessing until the final page. While I really liked Mackenzie as a character, and I enjoyed her sensible and caring, empathic nature, I couldn't imagine how she could find Lucan, who is condescending, rude, sexist, cruel, violent and mean to be at all attractive. No one who is mean and abusive to me would make me feel any sexual attraction at all, I don't care what they look like with and without clothing. I know there's that whole myth that women love a "bad boy" but smart women don't fall for arrogant and cruel dragons who lie and manipulate others to get what they want. And using size to intimidate others makes you a bully and a bad guy, again, not attractive as mate material. I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy novels full of shape-shifters and magic and adventure.

Mo Willems Launches Hidden Pigeon Company, Book Review of The Wife App, Roxan Gay's New Book Imprint, Nancy Drew Musical on Stage, Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest, Sharpest Sting, Last Strand and Heart Stings by Jennifer Estep, and The Books & Braun Dossier by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Hey hey hey, Book Dragons and fellow bibliophiles! It's that time, another bunch of tidbits and reviews coming your way from my corner of the world. We're having unusually hot weather this week, so I've been staying indoors in the AC and reading mainly Kindle ebooks, with some few paper books thrown in for good measure.  I got 5 new books for Mother's Day and a new comforter and sheet set, so I'm all set for some in-bed reading marathons. May your summer reading lists be bursting with thrilling new volumes by great authors!

I used to read "The Pigeon" books to my son when he was a little boy, and he always loved the rebellious nature of the Pigeon, who did the exact opposite of what he was told to do, or not do. I'm thrilled that Mo Willems is creating a whole company around these books and bringing them to other media, like TV and movies. Though my son is no longer a child, I bet he will also be excited to see the rascally Pigeon brought to life on the big and small screen. 

Mo Willems Launches Hidden Pigeon Company

Author and illustrator Mo Willems, Stampede Ventures, and RedBird Capital Partners have formed Hidden Pigeon Company https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFLcwuwI6akxdUxxEw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVDsOkpoMLg-gVdw,"a multiplatform kids and family content venture that will leverage Willems's best-selling catalogue of children's books and intellectual property across all entertainment platforms," Deadline reported. HPC will be led by Kathy Franklin as CEO.

"The Hidden Pigeon Company takes its name from how kids and former kids delight in finding The Pigeon hidden in every one of my books," said Willems. "It is my hope to create a similar bit of surprise and delight in the fabric of everything we make or do.  I am thrilled to have found wonderful collaborative partners to make that hope a reality."

The creation of HPC follows Stampede Ventures and Mo Willems's existing producing partnership, which has already done two specials on HBO Max:Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience and Storytime All Stars Presents: Don't Let the Pigeon Do Storytime (2020),which was nominated for two daytime Emmys.

In addition, HPC will house a publishing imprint called Specific House, which has partnered with Barnes & Noble's Union Square & Co. publishing operation to launch Willems's new adult humor book, Be the Bus--The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon, as well as The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!, and the upcoming Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh!, which will be the Pigeon's first holiday book.

"We've deeply enjoyed the success of our partnership with Mo and Cher Willems to date, and it's shown us that the popularity of his IP and the appetite for premium family entertainment are a powerful combination," said Greg Silverman, Stampede Ventures' CEO and founder.   

I really need a copy of this book, as I'm one of millions of women who do carry the emotional/mental load for my entire household, which is very painful and stressful. I wish that this app were real, because I'd be one of their first customers.

Book Review: The Wife App

Carolyn Mackler's razor-sharp adult fiction debut imagines one answer to a persistent question: What if women got paid for all the "mental load" tasks that wives usually do for free? After she finds out her husband is cheating (again), Manhattan tech product manager (and mom of twins) Lauren Zuckerman files for divorce.

While toasting her new life, she and her two best friends, Madeline and Sophie, hit on an idea: a "wife app" that would pay women to wrangle the minutiae of other people's lives. Though the other two initially see it as a joke, Lauren takes the idea and runs with it, resulting in a wild ride that will reshape how they all think about work and relationships.

Mackler (The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I) shifts among her three protagonists' voices, chronicling their struggles with career and parenting, as well as their larger existential (and romantic) worries. Heiress Madeline has devoted her life to mothering her daughter, Arabella, a Juilliard pre-college cellist. But the prospect of Arabella spending a school year with her dad (Madeline's ex) in London threatens to upend their cozy mother-daughter existence. Sophie loves her work as a literacy teacher, but it barely pays the bills for her and her two sons, especially since her musician husband left her for another woman. With financial and emotional buy-in from Madeline and Sophie, Lauren takes the leap--developing, testing, and launching the app, then dealing with the triumphs and trials of owning a small business.

As the women work out the kinks of the app--accepting assignments, establishing firm boundaries with clients, hiring other "wives" and juggling their new workloads--Mackler examines the cultural norm of women shouldering the mental (and logistical, and often emotional) burdens for their families. Her characters grapple (sometimes hilariously) with the growing pains of a start-up and its sudden success, but still have to manage their own mental loads (occasionally becoming clients of the app themselves). All three of them also have unexpected romantic encounters, which may (or may not) have lasting effects on their lives. Throughout the book, their friendship--not perfect, but honest and warm--helps ground all three women. Mackler also adds a few sensitive subplots around the trio's children and their issues, including anxiety, questioning one's gender identity, and the everyday trials of adolescence.

Smart, wincingly funny, and occasionally sexy, Mackler's novel is a 21st-century ode to female empowerment and women pursuing what they really want--while still juggling childcare, camp forms, and relationships like the pros they are. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

I've always admired Roxane Gay, and I'm so excited that she's got her own imprint and will be publishing fiction and creative non-fiction with a wide range of diversity, I'd imagine. This is a short but excellent interview with Gay, so she can explain what is happening with her new venture...CONGRATULATIONS, Roxane Gay!

Roxane Gay's Mission: 'To Publish Books I Love'

Roxane Gay's talents are wide-ranging and deep. She has published fiction (such as An Untamed State, Black Cat/Grove), nonfiction (Hunger: A Memoir (of My Body), Harper Perennial), essay collections (Bad Feminist, Harper Perennial), has edited collections (The Selected Works of Audre Lorde, W.W. Norton), and also writes opinion pieces and the "Work Friend" column for the New York Times. Next month, she will launch Roxane Gay Books with Grove Atlantic Press. She shared with Shelf Awareness the impetus and hopes for her imprint.

With all that you are already doing, what inspired you to start a publishing imprint? And please say a little about the timing of your launch: Why now?

Many years ago, I ran a micropress called Tiny Hardcore Press. I published these beautiful, small but mighty books, on a shoestring budget. I loved finding interesting work, editing it, and having a hand in bringing it into the world, but I always wondered what it would be like to publish books with more resources and support. Over the years, I wondered if an imprint might be possible, and one day I asked my agent if she thought it was possible. She did, and we approached both of my publishers. Ultimately, Grove Atlantic felt like the perfect home for Roxane Gay Books. In terms of why now: honestly, why not?

Tell us more about your micropress, and what lessons benefited you asyou start your imprint at Grove/Atlantic. What might you like to do differently?

I learned a lot about not only editing books and working with authors, but also the logistics of book distribution. Figuring out the best envelopes for shipping and dealing with the USPS was... humbling. I also learned that many hands really do make light work. It's challenging to have to do nearly everything yourself the way micro-publishers generally have to. With my imprint, I'm excited to collaborate with my longtime fiction editor Amy Hundley, Morgan Entrekin, Judy Hottensen, Deb Seager, my publicist John Mark Boling, and the rest of the Grove team, and learn more about the publishing process at a much larger scale.

Would you say your imprint has a mission?

My only mission is to publish books I love and hope others will, too.

What kinds of books do you hope to publish? You've said you're looking "for the kind of books I love to read." What does that look like? Your interests seem so wide-ranging.

I'm primarily interested in fiction and memoir/creative nonfiction. I love immersive stories with flawed protagonists. I love expansive world building. I love a little or a lot of darkness in a story. I am a fairly omnivorous reader, so I can't narrow down what I like beyond work that grabs me by the throat and squeezes, hard.

 I started reading Nancy Drew Mysteries when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and I loved them, because Nancy was so clever and didn't let anyone stand in her way when she was solving a mystery. Imagine my delight at seeing that they've turned Nancy Drew's stories into a musical! Combining two things I love dearly, books and theater. I wish that I lived in NYC so that I could see this when it debuts.

On Stage: Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor, the Musical

Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor, a musical adaptation of the book series https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFLexb0I6ahnJRt2Tw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVDMT1poMLg-gVdw that has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since it first appeared in 1930, is now in development, featuring music by Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Tony nominee Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde, Mean Girls), and a book by two-time Oscar winner Sarah Kernochan," Playbill reported. Three-time Tony winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient James Lapine will direct.

"After 175 Nancy Drew mysteries that span from her small town of River Heights to exotic locales around the world, the teen detective is about to tackle perhaps the most exotic locale of all to her: a musical theatre camp, Spotlight Manor," said Lapine. "Alan, Nell, Sarah and I have been having a ball letting Nancy and her pals take to the stage and sing for the first time."

Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest is a wonderful, diverse YA romance and coming of age story about Effie, who is going into her senior year of high school and trying to deal with college prep and admissions as well as her high school's lack of disability access. Here's the blurb:

Where You See Yourself combines an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, a swoon-worthy romance, and much-needed disability representation in this story about a girl who's determined to follow her dreams.

By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year, it feels like she’s already been thinking about college applications for an eternity—after all, finding a college that will be the perfect fit and be accessible enough for Effie to navigate in her wheelchair presents a ton of considerations that her friends don’t have to worry about.

What Effie hasn’t told anyone is that she already knows exactly what school she has her heart set on: a college in NYC with a major in Mass Media & Society that will set her up perfectly for her dream job in digital media. She’s never been to New York, but paging through the brochure, she can picture the person she’ll be there, far from the Minneapolis neighborhood where she's lived her entire life. When she finds out that Wilder (her longtime crush) is applying there too, it seems like one more sign from the universe that it’s the right place for her.

But it turns out that the universe is full of surprises. As Effie navigates her way through a year of admissions visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and a lot of firsts--and lasts--she starts to learn that sometimes growing up means being open to a world of possibilities you never even dreamed of. And maybe being more than just friends with Wilder is one of those dreams.

I have to say that I felt for Effie in so many different ways, but especially wanting to get away from your parents and your Midwestern home town and get busy making your dreams come true. Effie is a much better person than I was at 18, though, because she wants to use her media and society degree to make the country more aware of disability issues, especially for young people whose needs and voices are often overlooked. I also understood her fears about leaving home, where she has a support system, and going far away where she will have to get things done for herself. It's exhilarating as it is terrifying. The author's prose is gentle and realistic, and her plot swift and sure. I loved this warm-hearted book, and will give it an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in disability rights for young people.

Sharpest Sting, Last Strand and Heart Stings by Jennifer Estep are the 18th, 19th and 20th books in her Elemental Assassins series, though the last book is actually told from the POV of another character in Gin's universe, so I suppose it's not legally book 20, but I still enjoyed it. Here's the blurbs: Sharpest Sting:

The truth won’t set me free—but it will probably get me killed ...

As Gin Blanco, aka the assassin the Spider, I’m used to having a target on my back. But ever since I started investigating the secret society known as the Circle, that target seems bigger than ever.
Still, I’m trying to relax and enjoy the events leading up to my friends’ wedding when I learn that an old enemy has returned to Ashland. And that’s the just beginning of my latest nightmare. Soon, I have Circle goons watching my every move, but I have no choice but to continue searching for a key piece of evidence against the evil group.

The deeper I dig, the more horrifying secrets I uncover, and the more dangerous things become for me and my friends. Just when I think I finally have a handle on things, a shocking revelation shatters my heart and leaves me with an ugly realization—that betrayal is the sharpest sting of all.

Last Strand:

Every bloody thread has been leading to this . . .

I’ve battled a lot of bad guys in my time, both as Gin Blanco and as the notorious assassin the Spider. But I’ve never faced off against anyone quite as powerful and deadly as the dastardly leader of the Circle secret society.

Just when I finally have a lead on how I can defeat the evil group once and for all, new information comes to light that throws me for a loop. Suddenly, everyone and everything I love is in imminent peril of being destroyed, and I’m racing against the clock to figure out a way to save my friends.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the danger has never been greater. Somehow, I need to weave one last strand in my web of death—and kill my enemies before they kill me.

 Heart Stings: Heart stings can be the most dangerous wounds of all . . .

Lorelei Parker has had plenty of “heart stings” in her life—moments that are both happy and sad. With her grandmother’s recent marriage, Lorelei has had far more good times than bad lately.

That all changes when a ruthless Ashland underworld boss starts threatening her, but Lorelei is determined to figure out why the other crime boss is so interested in her thriving business. She vows to use her elemental Ice and metal magic to do whatever it takes to defend herself and her family.

Also in the mix is the mercurial Hugh Tucker. Lorelei doesn’t know what the vampire is up to, or if he’s a friend or an enemy. Tucker might even be something else, something more—if Lorelei can stay alive long enough to figure out whose side he’s really on . . .

Note: Heart Stings is a 38,000-word novella from the point of view of Lorelei Parker. It takes place after the events of Last Strand, book 19 in the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

I didn't enjoy Sharpest Sting as much as I did Last Strand and Heart Stings. The Last two books wrapped things up in Gin's world and were much more satisfying than book 18, which was just more of the same, as in Gin finds the bad guy, and ends up having to fight him herself because all her friends, who are supposedly bad-asses with their own powers or talents for shooting, always seem to be incapacitated early on and leave Gin the Spider to kill the villain and save herself. It's only in book 19 that they finally get into the thick of battle and actually help Gin in a substantial way. Plus I liked the book from Lorelei Parkers POV, because it was refreshing to not have to go over the same ground for the umteenth time, as we have to do with Gin in every single novel. I'd give the three books at the end of this series a collective B, and recommend them to those who have already read all the preceding Elemental Assassin novels.

The Books & Braun Dossier by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris is a series of Steampunk short stories that are connected in time/place and some characters. the e-book was on sale for a very low price, and as I'm a fan of Steampunk SF/F and mysteries I thought it would be fun and right up my alley. Unfortunately, though these stories are supposed to be by Pip B and Tee M, most of the stories were by Tee Morris, and they were poorly written, with slow plots and oblivious characters in obvious scenarios that bordered on tedious. Here's the blurb: From the award-winning steampunk authors, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, come these fantastic adventures of spy craft, science, and the supernatural.

When Agents Eliza D. Braun and Wellington Thornhill Books, Esquire, were first partnered up in the Archives of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, it was hard to believe they would ever delight in one another's company, let alone engage in acts of derring-do within and outside the boundaries of Her Majesty's Empire.

The Books & Braun Dossier features stories now collected for the first time in one volume, and one untold story of Books and Brauns adventures in a shady hotel in Torquay.
In this collection spanning the global theatre of espionage, you the answers to questions such as...

Why was Eliza D. Braun was cast out of her homeland of New Zealand?

Who is Arthur Books?

How is it that Wellington and Eliza cannot avoid trouble, even on Christmas Eve?
When Wellington is away, how does Archimedes find ways to entertain himself? 

Morris throws in a lot of information on native New Zealand culture and the Maori people, but she doesn't take the time to actually explain what the words mean in the other language, and her description of the native New Zealand agent doesn't do her any favors, as it makes her sound dirty and crude.  I enjoyed only one story out of all of them, so I am going to give the whole disjointed book a C+ and recommend it to anyone who is a Steampunk fanatic and a New Zealand fan.

Emily Henry's QOTD, Oprah Picks The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Harriet the Spy Season 2, Umberto Eco's Library of the World, An American Beauty by Shana Abe, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk, The Unplanned Like of Josie Hale by Stephanie Eding and Venom in the Veins by Jennifer Estep

Hey Bibliophiles! It's the second week of May already! Time flies when life is full of chaos, as mine has been for the past 7 months. But we are fortunate that the sun is out more often these days, and it's pretty warm and flowery outside. There are two neighborhood cats sunning themselves on our porch as I write this, both anxious to get some chin scritches from me, because I'm the most allergic member of the family, and they also know I'll give them some cat treats just to keep them happy...I'm a soft touch when it comes to kitties and doggos, and I think they can sense that, lol. I've been quite sick this past week or so, which is why I'm posting these reviews so late. Sorry, folks. But here's some tidbits and reviews for your perusal. BTW, I love this QOTD below.

Quotation of the Day

"I've always been a big reader. When you love books, you end up loving everything about them: I love stories and I love writing, I love the way that words work together and the magic of all that, but also I love holding a book. I love feeling the paper in my hands. I love the smell of a bookstore or the smell of a library. It's so easy to feel the magic and possibility of that. It just makes sense that I'm always sending my characters to a bookstore. That is also a really important part of vacation to me.

"Anytime you're in a new town, you want to see what their local bookstore is like because they're all a bit different, but at the same time there's something really familiar. It's a little home-away-from-home. If you're a book person, you're always going to feel pretty cozy in a bookstore. Their role in my life is a huge piece of my career; just having the support of booksellers is why I am where I am now. There's no doubt about that. Even if I weren't writing or publishing now, I would still feel the same about bookstores. There's this feeling of possibility that I don't quite feel anywhere else."--Emily Henry, whose novel Happy Place (Berkley) is the #1 May Indie Next List Pick

Though I wasn't a fan of Cutting for Stone, Abraham Vergheses first big bestseller, I do think I might want to pick up a copy of his latest, just because Oprah said it was riveting reading.

Oprah's Book Club Pick: The Covenant of Water

Oprah Winfrey has chosen The Covenant of Water https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFLZlegI6akxJEx-GQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVC5SgpoMLg-gVdw by Abraham Verghese (Grove) as her 101st Oprah's Book Club selection.

Noting that she was enthralled by her selection, Winfrey said, "It's one of the best books I've read in my entire life. It's epic. It's transportive. Many moments during the read I had to stop and remember to breathe. I couldn't put the book down until the very last page. It was unputdownable!"

Verghese observed: "Hearing the melodious and signature voice of the person who has done more for books in America than anyone alive, then hearing her passion for my book, which she'd read more closely than any reader I know, well, I teared up. My thoughts were flashing back through the decade-plus of writing The Covenant of Water, during which time my mother had died. The call felt like a miracle. I'd been reflexively standing throughout the conversation and when we hung up, I'm not ashamed to say I got to my knees and gave thanks. Mom would have approved."

I used to love reading Harriet the Spy books when I was a kid, so I imagine this series is lots of fun, though I wish it was live action and not animated.

TV: Harriet the Spy Season 2

The second season of Harriet the Spy https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFLZw7gI6akxKxF0SA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVC8LwpoMLg-gVdw, based on the classic children's novel by Louise Fitzhugh, premieres tonight on Apple TV+. Produced by the Jim Henson Company, the animated series features a voice cast that includes Beanie Feldstein (as Harriet), Jane Lynch, Kimberly Brooks, Charlie Schlatter, Lacey Chabert, Crispin Freeman, Grey Griffin, and Bumper Robinson. Guest stars this season include Jaeden Martell, Brad Garrett, Michelle Trachtenberg, and more.

The Apple Original series is written and executive produced by Will McRobb, with Sidney Clifton as producer. Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford executive produce on behalf of the Jim Henson Company with John W. Hyde, Nancy Steingard and Wendy Moss-Klein also serving as exec producers, and Terissa Kelton as co-executive producer. Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, and Ben Kalina executive produce for Titmouse Animation Studios.

Wow! A 50K volume library? Sign me up for this documentary!

Movies: Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

Cinema Guild, which has acquired U.S. rights to Umberto Eco: A Library of the World https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFLZw7gI6akxKxF0TA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVC8LwpoMLg-gVdw, a documentary about the Italian author, has released a trailer that "takes viewers inside Eco's extraordinary personal library," Deadline reported. Directed by Davide Ferrario, the doc will be released beginning June 30 at Film Forum in New York City, followed by an expansion across the country.

"A documentary immersion into all things Eco, Davide Ferrario's film takes us on a tour of Umberto Eco's private library, guided by the author himself," according to a description of the film. "Combining new footage with material he shot with Eco in 2015 for a video installation for the Venice Biennale, Ferrario documents this incredible collection and the man who amassed it. As Eco leads us among the more than 50,000 volumes, we also gain insight into the library of the mind of this vastly prolific and original thinker." In the trailer, Eco observes: "A library is both symbol and reality of universal memory. Libraries are the common memory of humanity."

An American Beauty by Shana Abe is a historical fiction-based on-fact romance of the life of Arabella Huntington, a woman from the extremely impoverished post-war South who used her beauty and intelligence to save her family from starvation and become an icon of the Gilded Age. I've read everything Abe has written, and she's not disappointed me once. Her prose is lush and "gilded" without being fussy and her plots are as beautifully paced as a waltz that never falters. Here's the blurb:  

The New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor returns with a spellbinding new book perfect for fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age and readers of Marie Benedict. This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington—a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham’s gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It’s not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty.
 
Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis’s help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis’s seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune.
 
Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife’s death. But “The Four Hundred”—the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts—have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in Society—not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth, and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat—an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart . . .An American Beauty brings to vivid life the glitter and drama of a captivating chapter in history—and a remarkable woman who lived by her own rules.

I loved Bella's iron spine and her utterly fierce determination to not allow her family, her siblings and her mother, to starve or not have a decent home to live in or clothing to wear. She was willing to expend her own heart and soul to keep them happy and healthy. I don't know that they truly appreciated all that they did for her, but as a person who has lived with someone who also never appreciated all that I've done for my family and household, I could understand that it's often a thankless task to be the strong one, the smart one, the one with ambition who doesn't let anything set her back for long. I also understand how Bella put aside her own needs and desires because the welfare of her family was paramount. I've been doing that for most of my life. I loved the way that Abe made these historical figures fell real and fully dimensional. She's an astounding storyteller. I'd give this marvelous book (which did, indeed, remind me of the streaming series The Gilded Age, which I loved), an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves Bridgerton or other costume dramas. 

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is a bookish mystery that has a weirdly uneven plot and no really enjoyable characters...everyone's a terrible person in one way or another, even the female protagonist, Liesl, comes off as a wimpy self effacing idiot who wants to have an affair but is too much of a coward to commit to it because she knows her husband is a good father and a good man. Here's the blurb:

Anxious People meets the delights of bookish fiction in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: what holds more secrets in the library—the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long—and about the people who care for and revere them—shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a sparkling book-club read about a woman struggling to step out from behind the shadows of powerful and unreliable men, and reveals the dark edge of obsession running through the most devoted bookworms.

I became frustrated by all the crappy people in this book, and their nasty, underhanded dealings with each other and the library. I need to have one character, at least, who I can count on to do the right thing and be a halfway decent human. I didn't really find that here, and when reading the final chapters I was not surprised that the person you'd least suspect turned out to be the worst of the lot. I won't spoil the ending for you, except to say that it is painful and sad. I'd give this depressing story a C+, and recommend it to people who enjoy reality TV that shows the worst that humanity has to offer.

The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale by Stephanie Eding is a YA romantic comedy that reads like it was written by an immature/young fan fiction writer who read a book on how to write a romance novel. Every beat of the book was standard YA romance fiction, even the dialog between the characters read like something you'd see in a YA romantic comedy on Netflix. Josie is a non-too-bright woman who ends up living with two of her high school pals, one of whom she's had a crush on since their glory days. Guess who she ends up with? Him, of course, because gee-whiz, turns out he had a crush on her too all these years! The sweetness devolves into gooey ridiculousness once the set up is finished. Here's the blurb:

If you're looking for:

• Found family who always look out for you
• A second chance romance
• All the fried food that'll take your mind off your troubles
• A chance to start over and do things your own way

Then The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale is exactly what you need!

When Josie discovers that she's unexpectedly pregnant with her ex-husband's baby (darn that last attempt to save their marriage), she seeks comfort in deep-fried food at the county fair. There she runs into her two old friends, Ben and Kevin. While sharing their own disappointments with adult life, they devise a plan to move in together and turn their lives around. Soon Ben and Kevin make it their mission to prepare for Josie's baby, not least by making sure Josie always has the food she's craving. Maybe all together they can discover the true meaning of family and second chances in life.

All the tropes and cliches are here, of course, including the terrible mother who shoves her nose into her daughters business and the prat-falling, clumsy girl who is irresistible, yet has the coldest and meanest ex-husband ever. Gah. She cries a lot and lets the guys make decisions for her because, well, adulting is so hard *whine, whine*. Anyway, this book deserves a C at best, and I'd only recommend it to someone who finds pregnant damsel in distress romances exciting.

Venom in the Veins by Jennifer Estep is the 17th novel (of 19) in her Elemental Assassins series of urban fantasy novels. As with all her previous books in this series, Estep has created another big bad for Gin Blanco, The Spider, to take down before the new bad gal ends up killing all her friends/family. Here's the blurb:

Blood might be thicker than water, but venom is stronger than just about anything …

It was supposed to be a nice, quiet, simple dinner with friends—but nothing is ever nice, quiet, or simple when you’re Gin Blanco, the Spider, notorious assassin and current queen of the Ashland underworld.

This time around, someone seems to be targeting Stuart Mosley, the president of First Trust bank. Lots of people have grudges against Mosley, but the more I investigate, the more Mosley’s problems seem to be connected to some of my own, especially when it comes to the Circle, the evil, shadowy group that is secretly responsible for much of the crime and corruption in Ashland.

But when another blast from my dark and deadly past as the Spider comes to light, I wonder if I’ll be able to survive this dangerous new enemy, who has a burning thirst for revenge that will only be satisfied with one thing: my death.

This time Gin is up against Alanna, the daughter of an evil elemental whom she had to kill over a decade ago, and while she feels guilty that this daughter saw her kill her mother, Gin soon realizes that she has no choice but to "kill or be killed" because the daughter was trained to be a sociopathic cannibal vampire at her mother's side. Somehow Estep manages to make that last sentence work within the story without being cheesy or ridiculous. As usual, Estep's prose is nicely turned out, and her plots are clean and swift as an arrow (or in this case, some silverstone knives, expertly thrown).   I'd give this latest tale a B, and recommend it to anyone who has read the other 16 books in the series.