Mike Hammer Comes to Film, Obituary for Norma Swenson, the Other Bennet Sister on TV, BookCon Returns to NYC, The Harvey Girls Book Review, Haunted Burrow Books Opens in Seattle's Cap Hill, A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn, The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore and Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

Happy Summer Solstice, and first official day of summer. Ironically, today it was cold and rainy, causing our local wandering cat (who thinks we're his people, probably because we pet him and give him treats) to bemoan his fate by meowing loudly as he rolled around on our carpeting today leaving behind clumps of wet fur to exacerbate my asthma and allergies. Anyroad, there are some great shows coming up this week and next on several streaming services, including a sumptuous new season of The Gilded Age, and another Downton Abbey movie, both of which I'm really looking forward to, especially during these dark days of democracy, where the orange fascist is steadily trying to kill off children and the elderly and tax the rest of the 99 percent while providing the 1 percent billionaires with more opportunities to line their pockets. So, herein are some great tidbits and 4 reviews...keep reading and wear sunscreen, book folks!

 

I used to LOVE the TV version of Mike Hammer mysteries with Stacey Keech. He was amazing and the scripts were marvelous. It's Hammer time! LOL.

 

Movies: Mike Hammer

Matthew McConaughey is "in talks to star" in a film

starring hardboiled private investigator Mike Hammer, who has been

featured in the longrunning book series by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan

Collins, Deadline reported. McConaughey would be reuniting with True

Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, who has written the screenplay.

Skydance had acquired the rights to the books with the plans to develop

and produce a movie. The company's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger will produce the film along with Guymon Casady, Benjamin

Forkner, and Ken F. Levin. Max Allan Collins will executive produce with

Jane Spillane serving as co-producer. Carin Sage will oversee the

project for Skydance.

Our Bodies, Ourselves was a GROUNDBREAKING book when it came out in the 70s, when I was a teenager. Of course, our stupid uptight principals of the Jr High and high school refused to allow the school librarian to stock it (these were all middle aged men, BTW) but the local public library had two copies! So I got one, and then begged my mom to buy me a copy of my own (which was a rare treat, because my mom felt that the public library was the best place to get books, not bookstores, which charged more than we could afford) and I read it cover to cover several times. Because of this, and because I started nurses training at age 16, I became to resident "expert" at my high school on sexuality and the female body. If only more girls at my school had parents who didn't hide behind religion and educated their daughters, there would have been fewer teen pregnancies and sexual assaults. But I was, thanks to Norma Swenson, in the know about my growing body and the results of sexual activity. RIP to an amazing feminist.

 

Obituary Note: Norma Swenson

Norma Swenson, an author of the 1970s global bestseller Our Bodies, Ourselves, died May 11. She was 93.

The New York Times reported that Swenson "was working to educate women about childbirth, championing their right to have a say about how they delivered their babies, when she met the members of the collective that

had put out the first rough version of what would become the feminist

health classic Our Bodies, Ourselves. It was around 1970, and she

recalled a few of the women attending a meeting she was holding in

Newton, Mass., where she lived. It did not go well. One of them shouted

at her, 'You are not a feminist, you'll never be a feminist and you need

to go to school!' "

"I was stricken," Swenson recalled in a StoryCorps interview in 2018.

"But also feeling that maybe she was right. I needed to know more

things."

Despite the initial tension, the members of the Boston Women's Health

Book Collective invited Swenson to join their group, and she went on to

help create Our Bodies, Ourselves. The New England Free Press published

an initial rough version in 1970 and it became an immediate underground

success, selling 225,000 copies. After Simon & Schuster published the

book in 1973, "much gussied up and expanded, it became a juggernaut,"

the Times noted.

In 1977, Swenson and Judy Norsigian, another core member of the

collective, toured 10 European countries to meet with women's groups who

were putting together their own versions of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Swenson would later help oversee the international editions and

adaptations, as well as lecture around the world.

"Norma was always committed to an intersectional approach," Norsigian

said. "She made sure the activism could fit people's lifestyles. How

they could do things with limited resources. How to tailor the work to

specific communities in less industrialized countries. She helped

breastfeeding support groups in the Philippines, for example, and met

with a doctor in Bangladesh who was advocating for indigenous production

of essential drugs."

Last updated in 2011, Our Bodies, Ourselves has sold more than four

million copies and been translated into 34 languages. The nonprofit

behind the book, which provides health resources to women, is now based

at Suffolk University in Boston.

This looks fascinating...I imagine there's a lot we don't know about the other Bennet girls.

 

TV: The Other Bennet Sister

The Other Bennet Sister, the BBC and BritBox's Jane Austen universe series, has added Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey), Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), and Indira Varma (Game of Thrones) to the cast. Deadline reported that they will play Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in the adaptation of Janice Hadlow's novel about "the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice."

Ella Bruccoleri (Bridgerton) leads the 10-part series as Mary Bennet.

Other cast memebrs include Richard Coyle (Heads of State), Roisin

Bhalla, Reggie Absolom, Jasmine Sharp, Laurie Davidson, Donal

Finn, and Varada Sethu. Sarah Quintrell has adapted Hadlow's novel for

the screen.

Oh how I wish I could attend BookCon this year! In NYC, no less! How exciting an event, full of authors and publishers and other bookish sorts. Heavenly! These are my people!

 

BookCon Is Returning Next April in New York City

As ReedPop noted, "the rumors are true." BookCon, which had been a popular consumer-focused addition to BookExpo but hasn't been held since the pandemic started, is back. The two-day show, a "celebration of storytelling in all forms built for readers, by readers," will take place next April 18 and 19 at the Javits Center in New York City.

ReedPop called the new BookCon "a wholly reimagined event," that will

gather publishers, authors, brands, and retailers in "an immersive show

floor experience" that will include author chats, books swaps, book

signings, book clubs, workshops, panels, crafting zones, and more.

Jenny Martin, event director, ReedPop, said, "BookCon has always been an

incredibly special event to our team and when we made the difficult

decision to cancel the show in 2020, we did so with the hope that we

would bring the event back even bigger and better when the time felt

right. We are so excited to welcome our BookCon community home next

April for an event that has been fully reimagined to include everything

fans loved about BookCon, plus so much more. At BookCon, we believe

stories are sacred, books are identity, and community is everything. We

invite all of you to join us as we create a space where passion is

celebrated and all of you are our main characters."

BookCon was founded in 2014 and was an immediate success, drawing 10,000 enthusiastic readers, particularly teenage girls, its first year,

limited because of a cap on attendance. BookCon remained a vital event

through 2019, welcomed by the industry. As one publisher told us after

BookCon's debut: "What's not to like about kids who think reading is

cool?"

I loved The Harvey Girls movie with Judy Garland, and I bet this book's a real corker! I will have to find a copy ASAP.

 

Book Review: The Harvey Girls

Juliette Fay's winsome eighth novel, The Harvey Girls, follows two young women who become colleagues--and, eventually, much more--as they work alongside one another in the United States' first hospitality chain, along the

Santa Fe Railroad.

Charlotte Crowninshield turned her back on her Boston Brahmin family

when she married a handsome professor from Wellesley College. Now,

fleeing a marriage gone terribly wrong, she takes a new name and lands a

job working for the Fred Harvey Company. She travels to Topeka, Kan., to

train as a waitress at the company's flagship "Harvey House."

Charlotte's roommate, Billie MacTavish, is the sheltered Nebraskan

daughter of Scottish immigrants, forced to leave home and lie about her

age to secure her position as a Harvey Girl. Though they dislike each

other on sight, Billie and Charlotte must learn to live and work

together. The railroad, and their lives as Harvey Girls, will take them

both to places they never imagined.

Fay paints a striking historical portrait of 1920s America,

detailing the bustling train stations and well-appointed restaurants

that become Billie and Charlotte's world. She explores the freedoms and

limits of being a Harvey Girl: though the job offers a chance at

independence, plus income and opportunities to travel, it also comes

with strict behavioral standards. Despite their prickly relationship,

Billie and Charlotte stand by one another through tough days on the job

and several harrowing experiences, including an encounter with the KKK.

Fay explores both protagonists' personal growth alongside their

deepening friendship, even as they face difficult decisions about their

futures.

When Charlotte and Billie are transferred to the Grand Canyon, Fay

immerses readers in the stark beauty of the Arizona desert and the

elegance of the El Tovar Hotel, their new workplace. At El Tovar,

Charlotte learns some of the local Indigenous history by asking

questions about handicrafts and traditions. Fay sensitively portrays the

complicated experiences of Native peoples in the area, and their

frustration with being displayed as cultural curiosities. As Charlotte's

past catches up with her and Billie debates whether to reveal her true

age, the women must rely on their Harvey Girl training--plus their inner

grit and compassion--to support each other and step into their futures.

At once a fascinating slice of little-known 1920s history and a tribute

to staunch female friendship, The Harvey Girls is as satisfying as a

slice of lemon meringue pie served in a Harvey House dining room.

--Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

I'm so excited that another bookstore is opening on Cap Hill, aka The Gayborhood! My son has agreed to take me there to explore one of these weekends!

 

Haunted Burrow Books Opening Today in Seattle, Wash.

Haunted Burrow Books, a bookstore with a focus on horror, fantasy, science fiction, and occult titles, opens today in Seattle, Wash.

Located at 430 15th Ave. E in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood,

Haunted Burrow Books spans approximately 1,600 sq. ft. and sells

predominantly new titles with about 20% of the inventory consisting of

used books. About 5% of the inventory is packaged as blind dates, and

there are tarot cards featured in the occult section.

Owner Roxanne Guiney, an editor by trade, has a small opening party

planned for this evening that will include a raffle and golden ticket

hunt. In July she has two book clubs scheduled as well as a silent

writing group planned through the North Seattle Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Writers group. In general she hopes to host at least two book clubs, one

writing group, and one occult-themed group each month.

Asked about the bookstore's focus, Guiney said she chose to concentrate

"on the genres I'm knowledgeable about and can discuss, particularly

horror and dark fantasy." She added: "Of course, people get more excited

to read a book when the person offering it to them tells them what's

exciting about it, and I want to be able to give customers that

experience. To some readers, myself included, the connection to another

reader is part of the experience."

In addition to being an editor, Guiney has been involved with the

writing community in Seattle for several years, and has worked for a

literary magazine and a small press. Before deciding to open a

bookstore, she sold used books and books packaged as blind dates at

various swap meets and vendor fairs around Seattle. She's "always wanted

to work in a bookstore," she said, and started to consider opening one

of her own late last year.

So far, Guiney said, "everyone has been so supportive." She's heard

wonderful feedback from customers at vendor fairs as well as members of

her writing community, and she greatly looks forward to stocking and

selling books from local writers. "I'm overwhelmed by everyone's

kindness, and I hope that translates to the store's survival through the

short term lease and on to the next location." --Alex Mutter

 

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn (author of the Victorian Mystery series starring Veronica Speedwell) is a beautifully rendered story of a young woman in the 1920s who escapes scandal in France by traveling to her stepfathers dilapidated ranch in Africa. Though its a historical romantic adventure, this is a tale that stays with you, from the first poetic description to the last. Here's the short blurb: The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even among Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather's savanna manor house until gossip subsides.

Not only is Raybourn a magnificent wordsmith, her plots are always complex and compelling enough to keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. A number of historical fiction authors insist on stuffing all their research on the era into the novel, making it boring and hard to finish. Not Raybourn...no info-dumps, historical side trips or redundancies! Delilah's story is so poignant and heart wrenchingly romantic that it will stay with this reader forever. I could hear the song "Africa" by Toto in my head as I was reading it. Obviously I'd give this brutal and beautiful book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has wondered about the lives of those who colonized Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. BTW, I'd also recommend Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell mysteries, since I've eagerly consumed every single one the moment it appeared on the shelves of bookstores.

 

 

 The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee is a bizarre YA romantic thriller that is overwritten and full of horrible teenagers who make you want to smack them silly and/or toss them off the thousandth floor of the tower that encompasses NYC 100 years into the future. Here's the blurb: New York City as you’ve never seen it before. A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one?

Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Debut author Katharine McGee has created a breathtakingly original series filled with high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, where the impossible feels just within reach. But in this world, the higher you go, the farther there is to fall.

What the blurb fails to mention is that the central relationship in the book between Avery and Atlas is an incestuous one, as the two are brother and sister (though Atlas is adopted, they were raised together, so any sexual relationship between them is disgusting). This is consistently romantisized throughout the book, and it's nauseating and grotesque, and challenged by no one. To be honest, all the teenagers in this book are horrible people with overblown emotions that send them into ridiculous melodramatic scenes, from which all parents are conspicuously absent. I couldn't find one person to like in this novel, with its plodding plot and tawdry, immature prose.  It deserves a D, but I will give it a C-, and sadly, I can't think of anyone to recommend it to...there are so many better YA novels out there, don't waste your time on this waste of paper.

 

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore is a cozy, pretty, romantic mystery with a lot of heart and skilled prose. Here's the blurb: 

Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone.

As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.

Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it’s suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction.

Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless… Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right?

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

This wonderful romance is "almost" too sweet, but it is saved from that fate by the delicious prose and the swift, warm plot that flies by. I loved that the author recognized that at one point she was deep into the "hot dad" trope territory, and she makes her way around it realistically by giving the female protagonist agency and the ability to reason, though she's attracted to the hot dad and fond of his inevitably adorable 5 year old daughter. This is one of those books that will make you laugh and tear up in equal measure, which is why I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone looking for a "beach read" that is romantic, yet has substance.

 

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole is a historical epistolary romance novel that is lush and sensitive. I couldn't put it down! Here's the blurb: A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.
 
March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.
 
June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.
 
Sparkling with charm and full of captivating period detail, Letters from Skye is a testament to the power of love to overcome great adversity, and marks Jessica Brockmole as a stunning new literary voice.

 With addictive prose letters and a heart-wrenching plot that never wavers, Letters from Skye is one of those novels destined to be a page-turner that will keep you up all night!  Having worked in a museum dedicated to WWI and II, I loved all the details of how war affected people on the battleground but also on the home front, where every woman awaited the telegram messenger with dread and fear. Women like my grandmothers who lived through both world wars are amazingly resillent, and thanks to all the men who fought and died, we're a free nation today, no matter how hard the current fascist POTUS tries to take our liberty from us. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone interested in women on the home front of both world wars.