Welcome to the end of May, and the beginning of summer! Its already getting pretty hot outside, and I'm thankful, as usual, that we have AC and I can just stay indoors, away from the burning sun and pollen, and read some good summer books! There's a lot going on in the book world, both adaptation and publishing wise, and also bookstores that are being closed or taken over by bigger corporations. So read on for some tidbits and my usual book reviews.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is Having Her 15 Minutes of Fame
Taylor
Jenkins Reid is not just having a great year. She’s been having an
excellent year after year following the publication of The
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in
2017. Every novel since has been highly anticipated, widely read, and
all that people can talk about. Her ninth title, Atmosphere,
is set to be published by Ballantine Books in June, but this isn’t
all Reid’s got on the horizon. Here’s a look at all the latest
Taylor Jenkins Reid news.
Speaking
of Atmosphere,
while the novel doesn’t come out until June 3, an
adaptation is already in the works.
The film project comes from LAIKA’s live-action division and will
be directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Captain
Marvel).
The production team includes Travis Knight, Matt Levin, Anna Boden &
Ryan Fleck, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Brad Mendelsohn. Jeremy Kipp
Walker will executive produce. LAIKA will be working with Circle M+P,
the company behind the series adaptation of Daisy
Jones & The Six.
More
adaptation news: Serena Williams will executive produce a
series adaptation of Reid’s tennis-themed novel Carrie
Soto is Back.
The
series is also executive produced and written by Amanda Kate Shuman
(The
Wheel of Time, Berlin Station).
While the book is not directly about Serena Williams’s own tennis
journey, it is thought that the adaptation will be partially inspired
by it.
Taylor
Jenkins Reid is not only heading to the screen. She’s also taking
to the stage. Reid
has written a jukebox musical entitled Goodbye,
Earl
.
So, as you might have guessed, she is teaming up with country music
band The Chicks to bring the project to life.
If
you want to know more about Taylor Jenkins Reid, her life, and her
writing process, you’ll
want to check out her recent interview with TIME
Magazine,
which
came out on May 15. In the interview, Reid opens up about her
bisexuality and her gender expression and how it is reflected in her
writing. Atmosphere
will
feature a “high-stakes, dramatic love story” between a woman in
space and a woman back on Earth. “My attraction to women is a room
in the house that is my identity,” Reid told TIME.
“This
book was about me spending time in that room.”
This makes me sad, but if its the only way to keep the UW Bookstore going, I understand. I've gone to the U Bookstore for the past 30 years, and I've always enjoyed their intelligent book curators (especially Duane...amazing guy who knows everything about science fiction and fantasy) and their fantastic selection of books and their wonderful author readings/book signings.
B&N
Taking Over Trade Book Sales at Seattle's University Book Store
In June, Barnes & Noble will take
over trade book sales
at the University Book Store in
Seattle, Wash., the bookstore of the
University of Washington, which will
continue to manage non-trade book
sales, according to KUOW and confirmed
by a bookstore spokesperson.
Founded in 1900, the University Book
Store is one of the oldest
bookstores and was one of the largest
college bookstores in the country.
At one point it had at least nine
locations, some at University of
Washington campuses and others in
Seattle suburbs and nearby cities that
were like general trade bookstores, but
with a strong UW section.
In the last decade, the University Book
Store closed its branches,
including the ones in Bellevue, Tacoma,
Mill Creek, and Bothell. The
University Book Store is a for-profit
corporate trust that benefits
University of Washington students,
faculty and staff.
In some ways, the move by Barnes &
Noble resembles its purchase last
year of the Tattered Cover in Denver,
Colo. It's also something like the
approach taken by B&N College, a
separate company. More information
about the changes at the University
Book Store should be available in
the near future.
I loved season 1 of the Buccaneers, so I'm excited to see what is in store for season 2 of this deliciously witty Edith Wharton adaptation.
TV:
The Buccaneers Season 2
Apple TV+ has released an official
trailer for the second season of The
Buccaneers, based on the unfinished
novel by Edith Wharton, which was published posthumously in 1938. The
eight-episode series premieres globally on June 18, followed by one
new episode every Wednesday through August 6.
The Buccaneers stars returning cast
members Kristine Froseth,
Alisha Boe, Aubri Ibrag, Josie Totah,
Imogen Waterhouse, Mia
Threapleton, Christina Hendricks, Guy
Remmers, Matthew Broome, Josh
Dylan, Barney Fishwick, Amelia
Bullmore, Fenella Woolgar, and newcomers Leighton Meester, Greg Wise,
Jacob Ifan, Grace Ambrose, and Maria Almeida.
More on the take over of UW Bookstore, which used to be a destination store in the U District. They say that they will keep the curators and selection of fiction and non fiction the way its always been, and I hope that B&N is sincere about that promise.
More
on B&N's Takeover of Trade Book Sales at Seattle's University
Book Store
University Book Store, Seattle, Wash.,
and Barnes & Noble have offered
more details about the arrangement
under which B&N is taking over the
general books department at the
University of Washington's bookstore.
The partnership will lead to an
expansion of the trade book department
to two floors, significantly expanding
its inventory and selection,
University Book Store said in a
statement. This will enable the store "to remain
the preeminent general books provider in the college industry." The
Daily, the university's student newspaper, said the move will double the space
devoted to trade books to 17,000 square feet.
The store emphasized that it will "stay
independent and concentrate on
the core of our mission: providing
textbooks and student supplies for
the university community, promoting UW
through insignia products, and
supporting students."
Under the agreement with B&N, all
University Book Store staff who work
in the trade book department will be
retained by B&N and "remain in
charge of curating the selection of
books and programming to keep the
local Seattle flair of the University
Book Store." The store and B&N
said they will work together on "this
completely new store model that
differs from Barnes & Noble's
conventional stores." They pointed to B&N
CEO James Daunt's efforts to give B&N
stores more autonomy, saying that
the partnership will represent "an
apotheosis of that philosophy."
The agreement is to run for 10 years,
with the possibility of a
reevaluation after four years, the
Daily added. The trade department
will be "co-branded," and B&N
will pay rent and a percentage of sales.
Founded in 1900 by University of
Washington students, the store is
independent from the university and
operates as a corporate trust for
the benefit of UW students, faculty,
and staff. It is one of the oldest
bookstores in the country, and at one
point had nine stores, some at UW
campuses and others in Seattle suburbs
and nearby cities that resembled
general trade bookstores, but with a
strong UW section. In the last
decade, University Book Store closed
its branches, including the ones in
Bellevue, Tacoma, Mill Creek, and
Bothell.
Among University Book Store's many
talented alumni is Shelf Awareness's
own Marilyn Dahl, who said, "I
worked at University Book Store for 20
glorious years, when it was one of the
biggest and best college
bookstores in the country; in fact, as
far as breadth and depth of
inventory, it had become the most
noteworthy single trade bookstore in
the country. To me, it's heartbreaking
that the general books department
lost its indie status, but I'm glad
that with B&N's partnership, it can
keep on carrying on."
I remember reading Susan Brownmiller when I was a senior in high school at the end of the 70s, and being thrilled that it was frowned upon because it was considered "bad" to read a work that put men in an unflattering light. If you were caught reading it, you'd face your fellow students calling you a lesbian and a sicko (because women who don't love men are mentally ill, of course, ran the thought at the time). Still, I read it and knew that the author was right, that such a violent act couldn't be one of passion, but had to be about power and dominance. Oddly enough, my father was not happy that I read the book and had questioned him about his relationship with my mother...it was one of the very few times he refused to engage in debate or conversation with me.
Obituary
Note: Susan Brownmiller
Susan Brownmiller, the feminist author, journalist and
activist whose book Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape (1975)
"helped define the modern view of rape, debunking it as an act
of passion and reframing it as a crime of power
and violence," died May 24, the
New York Times reported. She was 90.
Against Our Will was translated into a
dozen languages and ranked by the
New York Public Library as one of the
100 most important books of the
20th century.
"Chilling and monumental,"
the lawyer Mary Ellen Gale wrote in the New
York Times Book Review. Time magazine
called the book "the most rigorous and provocative piece of
scholarship that has yet emerged from the
feminist movement" and named
Brownmiller one of its 12 women of the
year.
Noting that the ascendant women's
movement was already opening the
public's eyes about sexual violence,
the Times wrote that "it was the
personal feminist ideology suffusing
Against Our Will that catapulted
the book to the top of bestseller lists
and simultaneously infuriated
critics, on the left as well as the
right, who called it an anti-male
polemic.... The early praise soon gave
way to outrage over the book's
feminist dogma. Even admirers squirmed
at Ms. Brownmiller's assertion
that 'all men' threatened 'all women'
with sexual violence; the
statement led to her being harassed on
the lecture circuit for years."
Brownmiller's early writing career
included stints as a researcher at
Newsweek, a staff writer for the
Village Voice, a news writer for
ABC-TV, and freelancing for several
magazines. She was mainly an
activist, writing in the introduction
to Against Our Will: "I have
always considered myself a strong
woman, although I understand that the
strength I possess is a matter of style
and, secretly, of theatrical
bravura.... I am combative, wary and
verbally aggressive."
In Against Our Will, she wrote that
"fighting back" would be her ongoing
battle cry. "On a multiplicity of
levels, that is the activity we must
engage in, together, if we--women--are
to redress the imbalance and rid
ourselves and men of the ideology of
rape."
A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney is a witchy romantasy that is well written and sweet, without being too spicy and full of the usual cliched sex scenes. Here's the blurb: A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and
the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the
classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.
Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.
Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.
As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.
A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long.
Hecate Goodwin, Kate to her friends, has curated the perfect life as a hedge witch, living in a secluded cottage with only a black cat for company. She spends her days foraging herbs from the Ipswich forest, gardening, and creating tinctures to sell at the apothecary she owns. Most evenings pass without her speaking to another human being, an arrangement she quite prefers.
Kate’s solitude is thrown into disarray when her older sister, Miranda, reaches out and asks her to host their coven’s annual Halloween gathering. The day marks the beginning of the new year for witches and is also Kate’s birthday. The pressure from her coven to make the evening memorable mounts as the event draws near. To complicate things further, a handsome man from Kate’s past turns up at her cottage, asking for sanctuary. It is Kate’s duty as a hedge witch to honor this request, much to her dismay. Matthew Cypher is no ordinary lost soul–he’s a practitioner of forbidden magic who’s tricked Kate once before, and her guard is up.
As she juggles Matthew’s arrival and the preparations for Halloween, Kate comes across an old tome shrouded in dark magic. She is horrified when she realizes the blood-red inscription is written in familiar handwriting: her recently deceased mother’s. Afraid to even touch the dark magic her mother secretly studied, Kate can turn only to Matthew for help. Her idealized memory of her mother begins to distort, and as she and Matthew grow closer, Kate has to reevaluate whom she can really trust.
A Dark and Secret Magic is a celebration of the Halloween season and a love letter to anyone who drinks pumpkin spice in August and carries the spirit of a witch inside their heart all year long.
This is a wonderfully well-plotted story that I read in one day; a page-turner of autumnal delight that reminded me of a less serious Practical Magic (Alice Hoffman). I enjoyed Hecate/Kate's journey of discovery of her powers and her family's legacy, and I liked that she didn't automatically fall in love with Matthew and jump into bed with him. I'd give this fun and fast-paced novel an A, and recommend it as an October must-read for fans of witchy tales.
The Moonlight Healers by Elizabeth Becker is a women's historical fantasy novel that takes place in WWII France and present day America. It's a poignant tale that is well told and engaging. Here's the blurb: This melancholy story is beautifully and realistically told, expounding on what it's like to be a healer and a nurse of exceptional power, and the consequences of that power. The plot slowed down in a few spots, but otherwise moved along at a brisk pace. Having worked in nursing and knowing that my mother was one of those natural born healers with strength and compassion, I really felt for Louise and the challenges she faces, knowing that for a life saved, a life must be sacrificed elsewhere from another person. Such gifts are never free. I must also mention that the cover art for this book is magnificent. I would give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone interested in nursing during WWII and in magic healing that is passed from one generation of women to another.
These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi is the second book in the Woven Kingdom series, though its not as thrilling and fast-paced as the first book, This Woven Kingdom. Here's the blurb: Full of explosive magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, this breathtaking sequel to This Woven Kingdom is
from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series.
With the heat of a kiss, the walls between Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, and Kamran, the crown prince of the Ardunian empire, have crumbled. And so have both of their lives.
Alizeh, the heir to the Jinn throne, is destined to free her people from the half-lives they've been forced to live under human rule. When Kamran, the heir to the human throne, falls in love with her, he's forced to question everything he's been taught about Jinn.
Kamran's grandfather lays dead at the hand of Cyrus, ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Tulan. Cyrus has stolen Alizeh away to his homeland and plans to marry her there, giving her everything she needs to become the Jinn queen—and when she assumes the throne he will have fulfilled his own bargain with the devil.
Alizeh wants nothing to do with Cyrus's deal or the devil. But without a way to escape Tulan, and with the fulfillment of her own destiny tantalizingly close, she'll have to decide whether she can set aside her emotions to become the queen her people need.
Kamran, meanwhile, is picking up the pieces in Ardunia. Facing betrayal at every turn, all he knows is that he must go to Tulan to avenge his grandfather. He can only hope that Alizeh will be waiting for him there—and that she hasn't yet become the queen of Tulan.
With the heat of a kiss, the walls between Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, and Kamran, the crown prince of the Ardunian empire, have crumbled. And so have both of their lives.
Alizeh, the heir to the Jinn throne, is destined to free her people from the half-lives they've been forced to live under human rule. When Kamran, the heir to the human throne, falls in love with her, he's forced to question everything he's been taught about Jinn.
Kamran's grandfather lays dead at the hand of Cyrus, ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Tulan. Cyrus has stolen Alizeh away to his homeland and plans to marry her there, giving her everything she needs to become the Jinn queen—and when she assumes the throne he will have fulfilled his own bargain with the devil.
Alizeh wants nothing to do with Cyrus's deal or the devil. But without a way to escape Tulan, and with the fulfillment of her own destiny tantalizingly close, she'll have to decide whether she can set aside her emotions to become the queen her people need.
Kamran, meanwhile, is picking up the pieces in Ardunia. Facing betrayal at every turn, all he knows is that he must go to Tulan to avenge his grandfather. He can only hope that Alizeh will be waiting for him there—and that she hasn't yet become the queen of Tulan.
Though her prose is intricate and often sublime, here Mafi allows an uneven plot to derail her story, so that readers have to refocus several times to keep up with what is happening to Alizeh and the dreadful Kamran, who seems to me to be a weak and craven person who doesn't trust in his love or compassion toward Alizeh, instead preferring to mourn the monster who was his grandfather. He also constantly suspects the very worst of Alizeh, which is unwarranted and frankly stupid of him. I can't imagine what she sees in this guy, but love is blind, as they say...especially when the object of your affection can't figure out whether to torture and kill you or kiss you. Frankly, Alizeh deserves better. I would give this uneven and somewhat disappointing sequel a B-, and recommend it to those who are completists and have read the first book.
Schooling of a Midlife Witch by JC Yeamans is book 2 of the Beardsden witch series, which is a romantasy with an academic twist. Here's the blurb:
The second novel in the
spellbinding Paranormal Women’s Fiction Urban Fantasy, The Bearsden
Witch Series by author J.C. Yeamans. Join Gwynedd Crowther on her
journey into magic, mystery, and love.
In the follow-up to Secrets of a Midlife Witch, novice witch Gwynedd Crowther continues to dig into her parents’ history of witchcraft while deciding how to pursue her magic without the benefit of coven membership. She seeks the help of a new young professor to translate her mother’s grimoire, but he seems more interested in her than the tome. Could an Unremarkable be the love she’s been looking for? Or does she still have embers burning for Scottish Professor Archie Cockburn?
In the follow-up to Secrets of a Midlife Witch, novice witch Gwynedd Crowther continues to dig into her parents’ history of witchcraft while deciding how to pursue her magic without the benefit of coven membership. She seeks the help of a new young professor to translate her mother’s grimoire, but he seems more interested in her than the tome. Could an Unremarkable be the love she’s been looking for? Or does she still have embers burning for Scottish Professor Archie Cockburn?
The
implosion of a city building leaves her questioning her magical
ineptitude, and she seeks the help of an unconventional hedge witch.
After several more incidents and being followed by an unidentified
witch, Gwynedd speculates a former foe has returned to Bearsden to seek
revenge. Or is this a new enemy? What becomes of the mischievous Seelie
Fae children?
Will Gwynedd ever discover why her mother left the Bearsden Coven to raise her without a life of witchcraft?
The answer to the blurbs last question is no, unfortunately, but we do learn more about Gwyn's adversaries from other covens and what they're after in this sequel novel. I enjoyed the romantic pairing of Archie and Gwyn, but I found her forgiving him so easily of preying on his former students to be stupid and unhealthy. However, I do understand the lure of handsome Scottish men, as I also find hot Scots to be irresistible (Gerard Butler or Ewan Macgregor anyone?). Still, Gwyn's waffling between an unremarkable, who was obviously a plant by evil forces, and Archie, who pines for her, seemed ridiculous for the time it took away from the main storyline. The prose was saucy and the plot a tad too long-winded, but it got there in the end. I'd give this sequel a B, and recommend it to anyone who wants to read this entire magical series.
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