100 Years of Solitude Comes to TV, Kirkus Award Winners, Happy 60th Rizzoli Bookstore, Picture of Dorian Gray on Stage, Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher, Night Owls by A.R. Vishny, One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and The Road From Belhaven by Margot Livesey

It's almost Halloween, and October is running out on a rain storm to November. It's been fairly mild here, temperature wise, with temps in the 50s and 60s, and lots of humid air with lightening and thunder and hail every 5 or so days. Since this area is used to all the waterworks, there hasn't been any real flood or storm damage, and though the days are dark, it's been great reading weather, with all the cozy nesting items on full display. For me, this means hot tea with vanilla soy milk and snacks, both sweet and savory, as well as warm sweaters and pjs and fuzzy socks and blankets. My Crohns disease and arthritis haven't taken well to the change in weather, however, so I've had to take pain killers and naps along the way, and hope that the episodes will subside soon. There have been a few interesting things going on in the publishing world, detailed below, along with my reviews.

 

 I remember reading this book back in the 80s, and being impressed by the writing and the span of time the story outlined. I am looking forward to see the series on Netflix, debuting the day before my birthday.

 

TV: 100 Years of Solitude

Netflix has released first-look images from the upcoming series 100

Years of Solitude https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVXcw7oI6a41Kk92GQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSDsLypoMLg-gVdw, based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's classic novel, Deadline reported. The adaptation will be split into two eight-episode seasons, and the first will launch on December 11. The project has been sanctioned by the family of the author.

The team behind the project "started looking for the cast in 2022 and

estimate they saw over 10,000 candidates for the 25 main characters

across the seven generations of the Buendia family," Deadline

reported.

Production designers Eugenio Caballero, Oscar winner for Pan's

Labyrinth, and Barbara Enriquez, Oscar nominated for Roma,

oversaw the building of four versions of Macondo to reflect the passage

of time. The producers "sourced period furniture from local antique

stores and other fabrics and artifacts were made by local artisans,"

Deadline noted. "The attention to detail extended to the costume team,

led by Catherine Rodriguez, which conducted painstaking research

based mainly on the national records and on watercolors available from

the time."

All of the books that won awards sound wonderful to me, and I plan on seeking them out at the library in 2025.

Awards: Kirkus Winners

The winners have been announced for the 2024 Kirkus Prizes https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVXcw7oI6a41Kk92HQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSDsLypoMLg-gVdw, in fiction, nonfiction and young

readers' literature. The awards were chosen from books reviewed by

Kirkus Reviews; each winner receives $50,000.

Fiction winner: James by Percival Everett (Doubleday). The citation

reads, "In Percival Everett's audacious reimagining of Huckleberry Finn,

Jim--the enslaved man who travels the Mississippi River with Huck--is

revealed as James, who can write, argue with Voltaire, and speak in

elevated English. This enthralling novel can be read on its own, but

Everett has made it a necessary companion to Twain's masterpiece."

Nonfiction winner: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on

the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (Avid Reader Press).

"Meticulously reported, beautifully written, and devastating in its

account of an entirely preventable tragedy, Adam Higginbotham's book

reveals the facts of a news story many Americans recall but few

understand: the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January

1986, killing all seven crew members on board."

Young Readers' Literature winner: Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

(Candlewick). "Humor, grace, and tenderness bring to life this

beautifully realized story. Ian, a white teen growing up in rural

poverty and struggling with his mother's opioid addiction, finds support

and community in the friends, neighbors, and random caregivers he

gathers--all symbolized by the stray dog who gives the novel its title."

Awards: Ursula K. Le Guin, New American Voices Winner:

It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken (New Directions)

has won the $25,000 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, sponsored by the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation and given to a writer for a single book-length work of imaginative fiction. The prize is intended to recognize writers Le Guin spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech: realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.

The judges called It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over "a work of quietly

detonative imagination. Written in the guise of a zombie novel, it

quickly reveals itself to be a deeply felt meditation on the many

afterlives of memory, the strange disorienting space where our pasts go

to disintegrate.Haunting, poignant, and surprisingly funny, Anne de Marcken's book is a tightly written tour de force about what it is to be human."

This is yet another bookstore on my bucket list, and I congratulate them on 60 years of success!

Happy 60th Birthday, Rizzoli Bookstore!

Congratulations to Rizzoli Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVXexeUI6a41dRAjSw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSDMStpoMLg-gVdw, New York City, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a series of events that began this fall and will run into 2025. They include conversations with Laurie Anderson, David Godlis, Garth Greenwell, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ira Sachs, Patti Smith, and Chris Stein, among others. In addition, New York ensemble Tredici Bacci pays tribute to Rizzoli's influential role as a film producer with a concert inspired by the soundtracks Nino Rota composed for Federico Fellini's films. There will also be limited-run collections of anniversary tote bags and pencils.

The store was founded in 1964 by Milanese entrepreneur Angelo Rizzoli,

who was a publisher of books, newspapers, and magazines, and owner of a

chain of bookstores in Milan, including the Rizzoli flagship store

located in the Galleria. He also was a producer of classic films such as

Fellini's Une Parisienne, and La Dolce Vita.

During its 60 years, the bookstore has had both a screening room and

served as the backdrop for many TV shows and movies, including Law &

Order, Manhattan, Falling in Love, The Room Next Door, and more.

This is my favorite book by Oscar Wilde, and I love the many ways its been interpreted in film. Now its on Broadway on stage, and I would love to see it performed live! How exciting! Yet another reason I need to visit New York before I die.

On Stage: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dates and a theatre have been announced for the highly anticipated

Broadway run of The Picture of Dorian Gray, based on the classic novel by Oscar Wilde, Playbill reported. The 14-week limited engagement will begin previews March 10, 2025, at the Music Box Theatre,

with an official opening March 27.

Sarah Snook, star of the hit TV series Succession, will make her

Broadway debut with the transfer, playing 26 characters in a solo

version of the novel. Adapted and directed by Kip Williams, the

production is coming to New York following a sold-out run in London's

West End earlier this year. It originated at Sydney Theatre Company

(where Williams is artistic director) in 2020.

"I could not be more thrilled to have found a home for The Picture of

Dorian Gray at the Music Box Theatre," Williams said. "Its stunning

design makes it the perfect venue for our show, and I extend my great

thanks to the Shubert Organization for the honor of presenting Dorian in

a space that has celebrated so many remarkable productions. I eagerly

anticipate the moment when audiences can experience this new adaptation

of Oscar Wilde's extraordinary story in such an exquisite theatre."

"We are delighted to be calling the Music Box Theatre our home for The

Picture of Dorian Gray," added producer Michael Cassel. "This stunning

theatre, home to so many legendary plays and musicals over its 103-year

history will enhance the production's unique storytelling, allowing us

to share this timeless tale in an extraordinary, resonant setting."

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks (yes, the beloved actor) is a series of short stories surrounding a communication theme with an old-fashioned typewriter of various vintages used as a catalyst for the plot movement of each tale. Here's the blurb: 

  A collection of “first-rate” short stories (The New York Times) that explore—with great affection, humor, and insight—the human condition in all its foibles.

A small-town newspaper columnist with old-fashioned views of the modern world. A World War II veteran grappling with his emotional and physical scars. A second-rate actor plunged into sudden stardom and a whirlwind press junket. Four friends traveling to the moon in a rocketship built in the backyard. These are just some of the stories that Tom Hanks captures in his first work of fiction.

The stories are linked by one thing: in each of them, a typewriter plays a part, sometimes minor, sometimes central.

To many, typewriters represent a level of craftsmanship, beauty, and individuality that is harder and harder to find in the modern world. In these stories, Hanks gracefully reaches that typewriter-worthy level. By turns whimsical, witty, and moving, Uncommon Type establishes him as a welcome and wonderful new voice in contemporary fiction.

 

 

 

 

Hanks' prose is fine and mature, while his plots, though sometimes struggling with holes, manage to get the job done in the end. Though I enjoyed most of the stories, a few were weakened by obscure characters and those plot holes mentioned previously. I'd give the book a B, and recommend it to anyone who knows what it was like to hammer away at the keyboard of an old manual (or electric) typewriter before the advent of the word processor and computer programs.

 

Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher is a wonderful romantic fantasy set in a medieval or Arthurian world. I found the book to be like fine chocolate, expertly crafted, delicious and leaves you wanting more. Here's the blurb: Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…
Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…
From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair.  

 

I've read several other books by Kingfisher, and  while I'm aware it's the non de plume of Ursula Vernon, I still found myself wondering if her books weren't written by the author of the House on the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune, because they have the same kind of cozy "vibe" for lack of a better word. The same fully realized, lovable characters who are oddballs or outcastes of some sort, and the same struggles against the powers of darkness that would see them gone from their world.  I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes spritely dialogue and satisfying endings.

 

Night Owls by A. R. Vishny is a slow-starting bizarre dark YA fantasy novel (billed as a paranormal romance, which it is not, in the strict sense of the words) with a romantic through line for the main characters. Here's the blurb:

In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries—owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition—face New York's monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever.

Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.

Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.

Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.

When Anat vanishes and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.

But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself—before her rules break everyone she loves.

In this stand-alone debut, A. R. Vishny interweaves mystery, romance, and lore to create an unputdownable story about those who have kept to the shadows for far too long.

While I loved the historical Jewish theater details (I never knew there was an entire area of Jewish theaters in NYC that kept the theater arts thriving for decades) Vishny's prose was, especially in the first few chapters, awkward and overly elaborate, with frequent long infodumps that slowed the plot to a crawl several times. The last 60 pages things sped up nicely, which was grand, and it all ended with a somewhat nice HEA, though it wasn't without sacrifice at the loss of so many historical films. I'd give this ethnic vampires in love story a B, and recommend it to fans of unique vampire tales.

 

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a contemporary romance that, while mostly well written in Reid's smooth and lush prose, was somewhat hobbled by redundancy and melodrama. Here's the blurb: From the author of Maybe in Another Life, and Daisy Jones and the Six, comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?
Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

 

So TJR's huge success with Daisy Jones and the Six, which was made into a Netlfix series, has her publishers pushing out her backlisted books in hopes of making lightening strike twice, which I understand, from a financial POV. However, you can tell that TJR was working out the kinks in her writing style with these early novels. For example, there's some gauzy passive sentence construction in this book before we even reach page 100, and then there's the overly sweet female protagonist Emma, who seems stupid, frankly, and who constructs her whole life around the young men she believes are her "soul mates," like some goofy teenager. It also seems implausible to me that she would meet both of her guys in high school, and that their love would be lasting when it was created while they were all still being ruled by teenage hormones. Insert eye roll here. I also don't buy the sexist idea that women, especially young ones, aren't "complete" or truly themselves without a man in their life. Emma can't seem to function without Jesse or Sam, and when deprived of Jesse (who seemed like a controlling narcissistic jerk to me) she run home, like a child, and tanks her independent life to be "safe" with her parents and be treated like a child again, molding herself into the dutiful daughter that they wanted her to be.It's only when Sam comes back into her life that she's able to grow up and act like a halfway independent adult at 30 years of age. Ah, that old patriarchal saw of infantilizing women...so common as to be trite. I also found it hard to believe that it took her an entire 3 day weekend with Jesse the jerk, having sex and listening to him whinge on about how everything has changed (including Emma, how dare she cut her hair after he'd been gone for THREE years!) and how angry he was that time didn't stand still for him while he was stranded on a desert island....boohoo. So I'd give this fast moving tale a C+ and only recommend it to die hard TJR fans.

 

The Road From Belhaven by Margot Livesey is a women's historical paranormal novel that has coming of age and complex understanding of the mysteries of the human mind, heart and soul at it's core. Here's the blurb:

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy, a novel about a young woman whose gift of second sight complicates her coming of age in late-nineteenth-century Scotland.
Growing up in the care of her grandparents on Belhaven Farm, Lizzie Craig discovers as a small child that she can see into the future. But her gift is selective—she doesn’t, for instance, see that she has an older sister who will come to join the family. As her “pictures” foretell various incidents and accidents, she begins to realize a painful truth: she may glimpse the future, but she can seldom change it.

Nor can Lizzie change the feelings that come when a young man named Louis, visiting Belhaven for the harvest, begins to court her. Why have the adults around her not revealed that the touch of a hand can change everything? After following Louis to Glasgow, though, she learns the limits of his devotion. Faced with a seemingly impossible choice, she makes a terrible mistake. But her second sight may allow her a second chance.  The Road from Belhaven displays “the marvelous control of a writer who conjures equally well the tangible, sensory world . . . and the mysteries, stranger and wilder, that flicker at the border of that world.” —The Boston Globe

Livesey's prose is misty and intriguing, but there were times when, though I realize she was a woman of her era, that I found the protagonist, Lizzie, to be too wishy-washy and unable to deal decisively with her ex-lover Louis, who manipulates her into sex and then, when she's pregnant, abandons her, and disavows their daughter. That she finally finds her way to getting her daughter and marrying a better man to be a father to her, is more a testament to luck and her seer ability than to her own courage as a woman. Still, I'd give this crisply-paced novel a B-, and recommend it to anyone who is into paranormal historical stories from the turn of the 20th century.

Books About Saturday Night Live for 50th Anniversary, SC Library Stops Buying Books for Minors, 270 Reasons to Vote, Silo Season 2, When She was Gone Movie, The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski, City of Day by October K Santerelli, A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne Harris, and A Highlander Walks into A Bar by Laura Trentham

Good evening my cozy readers and other book loving friends! It's only a week or so until Samhain, or as we call it here in the USA, Halloween, so I'm excited for the upcoming candy fest and light and skeleton/pumpkin display! I'm also looking forward to November's birthdays (my husband and son) and Thanksgiving, one of my favorite times of the year, as I love me a good feast. December is my all time favorite month, however, with birthday treats and Christmas being such wonderfully fun celebrations. Anyway, thank heaven that its cooler outdoors and rainy and altogether the best weather for cozy reading. Here's some tidbits and some reviews for youse, lol.

 

I can hardly believe that SNL is 50 years old! I distinctly remember being almost 15 years old and feeling rebellious by sneaking downstairs to watch this new TV show that had satire and snark and swearing! (or at least they used semi-dirty words). The following Monday everyone at my high school would be talking about the skits and replaying choice lines from the scripts. One kids that I knew said that it was like "Mad Magazine but acted out on TV."  I will have to get a copy of a couple of these books about the evolution of an iconic TV show that is now woven into the fabric of American society.

 

Live From New York...it's Saturday Night! (The Books)

Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, about the 1975 debut episode of Saturday Night Live, is being met with mixed reviews and—the New York Times‘s Manohla Dargis called it “a nice, safe movie about a revolution“—so we’re lucky that it is far from the only cultural document about America’s favorite weekly sketch show. Now in its fiftieth season, SNL has produced stars, scandals, and many, many books. Whether you’re in it for the history-making comedy or the celebrity gossip, you’ll find something to enjoy in these eight of the best books about Saturday Night Live. Oral history fans: don’t miss Live From New York , one of the best books I’ve read about any important piece of media.

 

This is just horrifying, and does little to detract from the stereotype of the "stupid South" that has traditionally had bad public schools with poor performing students. York County PL, you should be ashamed of caving in to this kind of fascism!

South Carolina Public Library Stops Buying New Books for Minors

 Regulations about library materials are vague for a reason: they allow people who want to ban and censor books useful flexibility in deciding what’s appropriate or not. They also make it damn near impossible for librarians to know how to comply with the law. And that’s why the York County Public Library in South Carolina has decided to stop acquiring new books for readers under the age of 18 until they get some clarification. As Book Riot ‘s own Kelly Jensen notes, “leaning into a manufactured crisis now leaves those under 18 without much access to materials that would support their growth, learning, and acceptance of both themselves and those different from them. That is, of course, the point.”

In my mind, there's more than 270 reasons, there's an infinite number of reasons to keep an evil fascist dictator like Trump from the White House. But I get the joke here about the votes for the electoral college. I think it is wonderful that so many authors are getting behind Kamala Harris and her campaign.

 

Authors Offer 270 Reasons to Vote for Kamala Harris

It takes 270 votes to win the electoral college, and a new project, aptly titled 270 Reasons, is rolling out essays aimed at providing our diverse electorate with varied evidence that Kamala Harris is the one for the job. Among them are contributions from many notable writers. George Saunders is drawn to hope and problem-solving. Percival Everett sees our national IQ hanging in the balance. Lauren Groff is all-in for reproductive justice. Khaled Hosseini is concerned about book banning and censorship. Tomi Adeyemi feels newly invigorated pride in being American. Jeff Zentner knows the future of the Supreme Court is at stake. Pico Iyer predicts Harris’s positive impact on the global neighborhood. Megan Mayhew Bergman trusts Harris to take science-backed action to protect the environment. And that’s just to name a few. With three weeks til Election Day, every voice and every vote matters. Bravo to the organizers who created this resource. May their efforts, and ours, succeed.

I read this series of books, and enjoyed them, so I was curious about the streaming version, and delighted when it turned out to be pretty good. Now there's going to be a second season, which is exciting, especially since it nearly coincides with the latest season of Doctor Who. And just look at that stellar cast!

 

TV: Silo Season 2

Apple TV+ has released a trailer for the second season of Silo

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVXalOgI6a41IRF-Sw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSCJWgpoMLg-gVdw, the hit series based on

Hugh Howey's sci-fi stories, including the novellas Wool, Shift, and

Dust. Created by Emmy-nominated screenwriter Graham Yost, who also

serves as showrunner, the 10-episode season 2 will premiere globally

November 15 on Apple TV+ with the first episode, followed by one new

episode every Friday through January 17, 2025.

Starring and executive produced by Rebecca Ferguson, the second season

of Silo has added Steve Zahn (The White Lotus, Treme) to a returning

cast that includes Tim Robbins, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinaza Uche,

Avi Nash, Alexandria Riley, Shane McRae, Remmie Milner, Clare Perkins,

Billy Postlethwaite, Rick Gomez, Caitlin Zoz, Tanya Moodie, and Iain

Glen.

This looks fascinating, so I'm hoping to read the book before the movie adaptation comes out.

 

Movies: Then She Was Gone

Crystal City Entertainment and Moonshot Films have acquired the rights

to Lisa Jewell's bestselling 2018 novel Then She Was Gone

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVXbluUI6a41IBBzHQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSCZetpoMLg-gVdw for a movie film adaptation. Deadline reported that Jewell's books "are hot properties in the adaptation market at the moment," with Netflix currently working on an adaptation of her novel None of This Is True.

Catherine Steadman has joined the project as screenwriter. A former

Downton Abbey actress whose more recent acting credits include The Rook

and On the Edge, Steadman is also an author, with works including her

2018 book Something in the Water.

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski is a beautiful cozy magical fantasy that had me thoroughly engrossed from the first page on...I read it all in one sitting, and I finished it yearning for more, though the ending was quite satisfying. Here's the blurb: 

An “impossibly endearing” (Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel about three clairvoyant sisters who face an unexpected twist of Fate at the bottom of their own delicate porcelain cups.

Ever since the untimely death of their parents, Anne, Beatrix, and Violet Quigley have made a business of threading together the stories that rest in the swirls of ginger, cloves, and cardamon that lie at the bottom of their customers’ cups. Their days at the teashop are filled with talk of butterflies and good fortune intertwined with the sound of cinnamon shortbread being snapped by laced fingers.

That is, until the Council of Witches comes calling with news that the city Diviner has lost her powers, and the sisters suddenly find themselves being pulled in different directions. As Anne’s magic begins to develop beyond that of her sisters’, Beatrix’s writing attracts the attention of a publisher, and Violet is enchanted by the song of the circus—and perhaps a mischievous trapeze artist threatening to sweep her off her feet—it seems a family curse that threatens to separate the sisters is taking effect.

With dwindling time to rewrite their future and help three other witches challenge their own destinies, the Quigleys set out to bargain with Fate. But in focusing so closely on saving each other, will they lose sight of themselves?

Though this is a debut novel (hard to believe, when it's so brilliantly written and elegantly plotted), I found myself comparing it to my favorite Alice Hoffman magical fantasy novels (Owen sisters, anyone?), and marveling at the deft touch used to outline each of the Q sister's lives and loves (that's loves in the sense of their career destinies, not in terms of romantic love). I craved more information about their magic, which seemed workaday, but was really revelatory, and I found myself wishing that there really was such a tearoom, in this area and this time period, where I could go and get my tea leaves read or have my fate scryed in the palm of my hand. Even the house itself was a character (with a twist as to it's real identity later in the novel), so I couldn't help but love reading about the pivotal journeys of three beautiful women with mesmerizing enchantments as their birthrights. I'd give this page-turner an A, and recommend it to anyone who loved Hoffman's "Practical Magic" or Maria V Snyder's Poison Study series or Devon Monk's fantastic urban fantasy set in modern day Portland, Ore. Great quote from the book about what it's like to be a writer: "Beatrix's writing nestled itself in the very hearts of her readers. Her magic flowed into the sentences of her stories, giving them a depth that made the text impossible to put down. The words hummed, beckoning readers to cling to the pages and not let them loose until they reached the very end..."

 

City of Day by October K. Santerelli is a print on demand or self published book that is an ancient fantasy with grimdark undertones and a weak romantic through line that never really amounts to much. I believe that the author is some kind of friend of Mercedes Lackey (also called "Misty" by her inner circle), so the plot and prose seem to have been augmented by the help of an award winning professional, which is why the story hangs together as well as it does. Here's the blurb: City of Day – Deadly by Night

By day, Astera is a bustling port city with shops, markets, shipyards, and people going about their day to day lives. But every night when the sun sets, the people of Astera board ships and abandon their home to dark, murderous ghosts -- The Vaim.

Thislen lost his father to the vengeful spirits years ago and has barely survived on the streets as a common thief since. He dreams of escaping the dark truths of the island for good, but a family secret keeps him tied to the island and the oppressive Ruling Council. When he finds he is not the only one avoiding the entitled and sadistic gaze of Astera’s nobility, Thislen plans to help the gentle healer Mila leave everything behind to save them both - him from secrets and her from an unwanted marriage.

However, Lord Soren Bestant, head of the Ruling Council and spurned suitor, won’t let them go so easily. Caught and sentenced to a night on the island and the mercy of the Vaim, Thislen’s only hope is to reveal his family’s secret to save them, or die. But Mila’s family has a secret of its own, as does the Ruling Council. The Vaim are not what they seem -- and the fate of the kingdom hangs on the truth.
City of Day is the first novel of Astera from October K. Santerelli 

 

October is, according to his book bio, a queer disabled writer, and though he doesn't have any queer disabled characters in his fantasy novel, there is a lot of discussion about the lack of food and the characters starving themselves, so I feel like there's some underlying theme of anorexia/bulemia and being skeletally thin somehow being sexy or desirable (or even normal), that really warps the characters POV for me.Also, Mila, the female protagonist, doesn't grow a spine and stand up for herself until the last 60 pages of the book, which is unacceptable. The male protagonist, Thislen, mourns the demise of the "demure" and "shy" Mila (she was actually just a starved wimp with zero agency), and sadly the ending was unsatisfying and didn't solve any of the problems the plot places before us as readers. Though I found the book interesting enough to finish, I could only give it a C+, and recommend it to those who enjoy fan fiction that has been gussied up for publication.

 

A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M Harris is a poetic and lush fairy tale/legend that is so engrossing you will be turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: 

I am as brown as brown can be,
And my eyes as black as sloe;
I am as brisk as brisk can be,
And wild as forest doe.
(The Child Ballads, 295)
So begins a beautiful tale of love, loss and revenge. Following the seasons, A Pocketful of Crows balances youth and age, wisdom and passion and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless wild girl. Only love could draw her into the world of named, tamed things. And it seems only revenge will be powerful enough to let her escape. Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, this is a stunning and original modern fairytale.

 

I loved every word of this gorgeous lyrical fairytale about a wild brown girl who is deceived and discarded by a wealthy white nobleman. Her revenge, though it takes a long time, is just and smart, and I found the ending to be bittersweet and beautiful. This short novella from the master of prose who created the wonderful Chocolat, deserves an A, and a recommendation to anyone who enjoys modern captivating legends.

 

A Highlander Walks Into a Bar by Laura Trentham is a delightful fish out of water romance with just a touch of Southern Gothic storytelling to keep things interesting. Here's the blurb:

When two gorgeous Scotsmen arrive in smalltown Georgia, innocent Highland Games lead to serious passion in this contemporary romantic comedy.

Isabel Buchanan is fiery, funny, and never at a loss for words. But she is struck speechless when her mother returns from a trip to Scotland with a six-foot-tall, very handsome souvenir. Izzy’s mother is so infatuated by the fellow that Izzy has to plan their annual Highland Games all by herself. Well, not completely by herself. The Highlander’s strapping young nephew has come looking for his uncle . . .

Alasdair Blackmoor has never seen a place as friendly as this small Georgia town—or a girl as brilliant and beguiling as Izzy. Instead of saving his uncle, who seems to be having a lovely time, Alasdair decides he’d rather help Izzy with the Highland Games. Show her how to dance like a Highlander. Drink like a Highlander. And maybe, just maybe, fall in love with a Highlander. But when the games are over, where do they go from here?

It's no secret that a trip to Scotland to drool over all the "hot Scot" men is at the top of my bucket list, so this ebook seemed to arrive just in time to fuel my daydreams. Though it takes place in Georgia, in a town kitted out to look like a Scottish village, there was a lot of Scottish lore and bits of information on Scottish culture that I found fascinating reading. My only compaint about the book was that there was a bit of misogyny in the form of fatphobia and in the way that the women were lied to by the men to "protect" them from the truth, when the Scottish guys were just being sexist by assuming that women would automatically want to steal their heritage castle if they found out that the two were Scottish royalty. In other words, they assumed that all women are gold diggers, no matter their age or actual financial status. Both women here are financially independent and hard workers who keep the entire town going. When the truth is finally revealed, the women are also expected to "forgive and forget" out of love, because of course women are more compassionate and nurturing of men and their foibles than the other way around. So love (and lots of frisky sex) conquers all, apparently. Blech. This author needs to move her morals into the 21st century. That said, I did enjoy the precise prose and the bouncy rollicking plot. I'd give it a B- and recommend it as a beach read to all those who are enraptured with handsome, kilted Scottish men.

 

Princess Diaries 3 Movie, South Korean Writer Han Kang Wins Nobel Prize, Trevor Noah is Indies Spokesperson, Oprah Picks From Here to the Great Unknown, Robert Gray's Book Pilgrimage to Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher, Broken Light by Joanne Harris, Murder at King's Crossing by Andrea Penrose and The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

Hurrah for Autumn! It's actually too warm for October out there (today it will reach 70 degrees here in Maple Valley), but I'm still all in for the cozy reading vibes with the big chair/bed and blankets and a cuppa hot tea, a good book and some chocolate to keep me reading into the wee hours. I'm excited for all the new fall books as well, and I'm looking forward to birthdays and Christmas, which in my household are all in November and December, when hopefully I will get gift cards to bookstores so I can buy a bunch of new novels to start the new year! Meanwhile, here are some tidbits and four reviews for your reading pleasure. 

 

I'm a big Anne Hathaway fan, especially of her turn in The Devil Wears Prada, which is one of those classic movies that will be watched and enjoyed for decades to come (I mean, it has the perfect cast! La Streep, chilled to icy perfection! Hathaway at her most winsome and willowy! Stanley Tucci at his most sarcastic and lovable gay icon-ness! Emily Blunt at her b*tchy best!) so I can't imagine this movie will be anything but rom-com joy. I hope they get the original cast (including Julie Andrews, pretty please) to join up soon!

 

Movies: Princess Diaries 3

Anne Hathaway is returning for Princess Diaries 3,

based on Meg Cabot's bestselling YA and adult Princess Diaries book

series, Deadline reported. Hathaway, who confirmed her return on

Instagram: https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVWPxLkI6a42Khl_Gg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSXcXxpoMLg-gVdw, first played teen Mia Thermopolis in the original Princess Diaries film (2001), and

followed that up in 2004 with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

The new movie will be directed by Adele Lim, who wrote Disney's animated

feature Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), made her directorial debut with

Lionsgate's R-rated comedy Joy Ride (2023).She also wrote the Jon Chu-directed rom com Crazy Rich Asians, based on the book by Kevin Kwan. Flora

Greeson is writing the screenplay. Other original cast have not yet been

confirmed to return to the third installment.

This is splendid news! A woman of color finally won the Nobel! 

 Once the frenzy to read her book has died down, I plan on getting a copy from the library ASAP.

South Korean Writer Han Kang Wins Nobel Prize for Literature

South Korean writer Han Kang has won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVWAlOsI6a42KhF-SQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mSUpWjpoMLg-gVdw, announced this morning

by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Kang was cited for "her intense

poetic prose" that "confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of

rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life.

She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the

living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become

an innovator in contemporary prose." She is the first Korean to win the

Nobel Prize for Literature. She receives 11 million Swedish kronor (just

over $1 million).

Kang is best known in the English-speaking world for The Vegetarian,

translated by Deborah Smith (Hogarth), which won the Man Booker

International Prize for fiction in 2016 and was made into a movie.

The Swedish Academy commented: "Written in three parts, the book

portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist

Yeong-hye refuses to submit to the norms of food intake. Her decision

not to eat meat is met with various, entirely different reactions. Her

behavior is forcibly rejected by both her husband and her authoritarian

father, and she is exploited erotically and aesthetically by her

brother-in-law, a video artist who becomes obsessed with her passive

body. Ultimately, she is committed to a psychiatric clinic, where her

sister attempts to rescue her and bring her back to a 'normal' life.

However, Yeong-hye sinks ever deeper into a psychosis-like condition

expressed through the 'flaming trees,' a symbol for a plant kingdom that

is as enticing as it is dangerous."

Her other titles published in English include The White Book, translated

by Deborah Smith (Hogarth), which was shortlisted for the Man Booker

International Prize in 2018; Human Acts: A Novel, translated by Deborah

Smith (Hogarth); Greek Lessons, translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won (Hogarth); and We Do Not Part: A Novel, translated by Emily Yae Won and Paige Aniyah Morris (Hogarth).

YAY! Go Trevor! I love his humor and I enjoyed his book Born a Crime.

 I love that he's trying to improve access to education for young people in South Africa.

Trevor Noah Is this Year's Indies First Spokesperson

Comedian, author, producer, political commentator, actor, and TV host

Trevor Noah will be the official 2024 spokesperson for Indies First, the American Booksellers Association's national campaign of activities and events in support of independent bookstores that takes place on Small Business Saturday, November 30.

"Independent bookstores connect readers to ideas and stories, and they

are the rare physical places in our communities where we can connect

with each other," he said.

Noah is the author of the bestselling book Born a Crime: Stories from a

South African Childhood, which won the 2017 Thurber Prize for American Humor. In addition to his success as a comedian, he was the host of the Emmy Award-winning The Daily Show on Comedy Central. He has served as the Grammy Awards host for four years in a row, and currently hosts What Now? With Trevor Noah, a Spotify original weekly podcast.

In 2018, Noah launched the Trevor Noah Foundation to improve equitable

access to quality education for underserved youth in South Africa. His

vision is a world where education enables youth to dream, see, and build

the impossible.

I can hardly believe it has been over 100 books that Oprah has recommended and elevated over the past decades. She has been a great booster for the publishing industry, at a time when they've been desperate to keep America reading books.

This one looks especially interesting, as I'm a fan of Riley Keough, Elvis's grandchild.

Oprah's Book Club Pick: From Here to the Great Unknown

Oprah Winfrey has chosen From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by

Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough (Random House) as her 108th Oprah's

Book Club Pick: "Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough."

"I have great love and admiration for Lisa Marie Presley, and was so

moved that her daughter Riley, through her grief, was able to help her

finish a beautifully touching memoir that allows us to see her mother at

her most honest and vulnerable," Oprah said. "This is an intimate look

at what it was like growing up as heir to one of America's most famous

families." "I was just a few pages into this book, recognizing that it was going to

be your voice and her voice, and then I thought, 'Oh, I have to choose

this for the Book Club,' " Oprah told Keough in a CBS interview. "It's a

lot of brave work you did in this book."

I've made no secret of the fact that I have planned and executed a once a year pilgrimage to Powell's City of Books in the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon. If I were lucky enough to be able to travel to Europe, however, I know that I'd want to stop at Shakespeare and Company, the iconic bookstore that I've read about in so many famous books. Robert Gray's musings on bookstore pilgrimages are, as usual, fascinating.

Robert Gray: What Was Your 'Must-visit' Bookshop Pilgrimage?

Here's a story we all can tell; the variations are nearly infinite. It's

a tale about finally making a pilgrimage to the bookshop that has been

on your "must visit" list for a long, long time. It's about being there,

browsing the stacks, buying a book or two or three; savoring the moment

and then, years later, being able to recall that moment at will.

If you're reading this, you've had the experience. I know you have. Tell

me about it sometime. What was your "must-visit" bookshop pilgrimage

like?

A couple of things triggered thoughts about this recently. The first was

an article ("Why I always visit a local indie bookstore on my travels")

I read in the Straits Times.

"I always plan a visit to a local independent bookstore early into my

travels to find my bearings and pick up a book related to the place,"

Shawn Hoo wrote. "A city without bookstores is a nightmare for a

traveler like me--it is like visiting a city without maps."

Then, a couple of nights ago, I was listening to a Shakespeare and

Company interview, recorded live at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. It featured Adam Biles, literary director at the legendary Paris

bookshop; Lauren Groff, author and owner of the Lynx bookstore, Gainesville, Fla.; and author Neel Mukherjee in "a wide-ranging discussion that takes the temperature (and the pulse!) of the book industry, from bookshops, to publishers, to prizes,to festivals."

Biles opened the program by wondering, "when a volume chosen from a

million-strong catalog can be fired through your window by a drone

barely an hour after you've ordered it, or when the very same book,

searchable, resizable, updatable, shareable, can appear on your e-reader

in a matter of seconds, what good do the dusty, inefficient,

brick-and-mortar relics we call bookshops still serve?"

A conversation starter if there ever was one, and the panel's discussion

is well worth a listen, but a slightly off-topic comment during the q&a

sent my mind in another direction.

A woman mentioned that the last few times she'd been in Paris, she

wasn't able to get inside Shakespeare and Company due to the long queue:

"I'm wondering how you manage the fact that you are essentially a

tourist landmark/bookshop between the sales of books and trying to sell

books, but also having to deal with people who might want to visit the

shop and not necessarily buy something."

Biles replied, "It's been harder and harder to manage, and we're a small

bookshop in a 17th-century building. We took the decision to have a

queue because we wanted the experience once you're inside to be as close

to being in a normal bookshop as possible. And to anybody in the room or

anybody listening, I should say that the queue does move pretty fast.

But one of the very gratifying things is that people do buy books.

"And one of the things that actually drives me mad is every so often you

will see comments on Google or things like that, and people say, oh,

it's just a tourist attraction full of young women who want to take

photos for their Instagram accounts. And the first thing you should say

is that without young women, the book industry is dead. They are the

people who buy books, who read books, who engage with books more than

any other demographic.

"And these young women are not just coming to take photos. They come,

they buy the books and they buy serious, engaging literature,

philosophy, politics, much more than the men they bring in with them,

actually. And I'm sure much more than the men who are writing these kind

of comments online."

For many years, Shakespeare and Company was my "must-visit" bookshop,

and since listening to the podcast, I've had pleasant flashbacks to my

pilgrimage there about a decade ago.

There was no queue outside Shakespeare and Company that day, and

inside, a blissful near silence. We browsed for a long time, exploring

the ground floor stacks as well as the library upstairs.

We bought several books, of course.Eventually, we carried our new treasures, stamped with Shakespeare and Company's iconic logo, outside and strolled across the Pont au Double, a bookish pilgrim's path if there ever was one, to Notre Dame cathedral.--Robert Gray

Gwen and Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher is a delightful LGBTQ rom com that takes place after the Arthurian era, in the part of England that still worships, sometimes literally, the old tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Here's the blurb: Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.

It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.

They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.

Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother. Lex Croucher's Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.

“Fun and genuinely funny, with lovely friendships and first-rate dialogue. Gwen and Art may not be in love, but I fell for both of them.” - Rainbow Rowell

 

I completely agree with Rowell, this is a book that will have you laughing and crying and loving all the snappy dialogue between the two protagonists, both of whom are gay and definitely not in love with each other. the prose is witty and helps the plot move along at a fantastic fast pace...you'll be at the end before you realize it. I'd give this wonderful re-told tale an A, and recommend it to everyone who ever wondered how LGBTQ people would manage their love lives in ancient England.

 

Broken Light by Joanne Harris is a suspense-filled supernatural or paranormal thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page onward. I found myself hoping that the story would become a little less like Stephen King's Carrie and more like Harris's Chocolat, her most famous romantic novel, but though it skirted the line between thriller and horror a few times, ultimately it reigned in the ugliness to produce a somewhat sad but satisfying ending. Here's the blurb:

A bold and timely novel that explores how women can feel invisible as they grow older—and what happens when they decide to take back control.

Bernie Moon's ambitions and dreams have been forgotten by everyone, even Bernie herself. At nineteen she was full of promise, but now, facing fifty and going through the menopause, she's a fading light.

Until the murder of a woman in a local park unlocks a series of childhood memories, and with them, a talent that she has hidden all her adult life.

What happens when the frustrations and power of an older woman are finally given their chance to be revealed?

Filled with growth and redemption, revenge and visibility, friendship and self-discovery, Broken Light is an explosive new thriller that challenges our notions of womanhood and power.

Being a woman over 60 myself, I could identify with how lost and broken and invisible Bernie felt, especially by her cold and nearly autistic husband who seems to pine for "the girl of his dreams" from high school, who was Bernie's best friend until she became popular and decided to pretend her mental powers no longer existed in order to "fit in". Now Bernie is feeling isolated and alone, until she finds a group of feminist runners and decides to empower herself by getting in shape, doing some good with her telepathic powers, and by building a good life for herself without her husband. I can really relate to Bernie, as my marriage situation is also difficult and isolating. Though I don't have Bernie's power to "redirect" bad male behavior, I wish that I could show men how their misogyny affects not just the women in their lives, but women and girls everywhere...it's toxic and frightening, as Harris points out, that women have to constantly be in fear for their lives while in public or at home with men who are supposed to love them, not hurt or kill them. The last time I checked with the FBI database, one in three women/girls will be sexually harassed and/or raped/murdered in this country. As it stands now, I don't know any women who haven't experienced sexual harassment, which is disgusting and terrifying all at once. It seems every day now I read about a supposedly feminist "ally" in the entertainment or publishing business, whom I previously looked up to, who now has more than a few women accusing them of sexual harassment or rape...like Neil Gaiman, whose works I've loved over the years. It makes me angry and sad for the wives and daughters of these men, who have sunken to the level of beasts with their cruel and criminal behavior. That said, this book provides a clearer view into the hate-filled minds of these men, whose egos are so fragile and who think of women as expendable servants at best, slaves at worst. I'd give this thought-provoking work an A, and recommend it to any woman over the age of 50 who wonders what it would take to get her life back.

 

Murder at King's Crossing by Andrea Penrose is the 8th Wrexford and Sloane historical mystery. Having read them all, I can honestly say that this novel doesn't disappoint. The found family of Lord Wrex and Lady Charlotte is, as always, charming and fascinating, and the sidekick characters always on hand to provide help in gaining clues in the case. Here's the blurb: For fans of Miss Scarlet and the Duke and Bridgerton—a masterfully plotted mystery that combines engaging protagonists with rich historical detail, plus a touch of romance that readers of Amanda Quick and Deanna Raybourn will savor.

Celebration is in the air at Wrexford and Charlotte’s country estate as they host the nuptials of their friends, Christopher Sheffield and Lady Cordelia Mansfield. But on the afternoon of the wedding, the festivities are interrupted when the local authorities arrive with news that a murdered man has been discovered at the bridge over King’s Crossing, his only identification an invitation to the wedding. Lady Cordelia is horrified when the victim is identified as Jasper Milton, her childhood friend and a brilliant engineer who is rumored to have discovered a revolutionary technological innovation in bridge design. That he had the invitation meant for her cousin Oliver, who never showed up for the wedding, stirs a number of unsettling questions.

Both men were involved in the Revolutions-Per-Minute Society, a scientific group dedicated to making radical improvements in the speed and cost of transportation throughout Britain. Is someone plotting to steal Milton’s designs? And why has her cousin disappeared?

Wrexford and Charlotte were looking forward to spending a peaceful interlude in the country, but when Lady Cordelia resolves to solve the mystery, they offer their help, along with that of the Weasels and their unconventional inner circle of friends. The investigation turns tangled and soon all of them are caught up in a treacherous web of greed, ambition, and dangerous secrets. And when the trail takes a shocking turn, Wrexford and Charlotte must decide what risks they are willing to take with their family to bring the villains to justice. 

Though I do enjoy reading about the latest scientific engineering feats being created in the early 19th century, the math/science explanations about bridges and roads became tiresome as they're repeated throughout the book, and it slowed the plot down considerably. That said, the prose was sterling, and most of the plot chugged along like a steam engine, or the "Puffing Billy" as they called it at this time in history. The weasels made several appearances and I was glad when Peregrine was released from the odious racist Eton boys boarding school and returned to Wrex and Charlotte for private tutoring and expeditions to help solve mysteries. All in all, I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Regency era mysteries.

 

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez is a romantic comedy with a plus sized Latina protagonist and an engaging "fake dating" plot to rival some of the great TV movie rom coms, like The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Here's the blurb: 

Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.  

I loved the fact that Marcela was a librarian, and that Theo set up a special date night for her in the library, using electric or battery powered fake candles so as not to endanger her beloved books. Marcela is a huge fan of YA fiction, so that puts her in my good graces right away (I am a huge fan of YA as well). Theo also buys her an entire box of books that she's missing for her collection, which endeared him to me more than any description of his good looks. Any man who supports a woman's book habit is a keeper, IMHO. Anyway, their journey to sloughing off their manipulative and mean crushes and allow their love for one another to flourish is deliciously satisfying in the end. Gamez's prose is light and sweet, and her plot swift and engrossing...this book is a page turner that will keep your eyes glued to the page until the final scenes. I'd give it a B+, and recommend this spicy romantic novel to anyone who has fought hard to find someone real to share their life with.