Obituary for Tom Stoppard, Rogue Male Movie, Giving Tuesday Yarn Tree, Quote of the Day, Obit for author Fern Michaels, The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle, Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr, and Bonded By Thorns by Elizabeth Helen

Welcome to December, fellow readers. Sorry it has taken me so long to post some reviews, but my husband of 28 years died on Dec 4, and it has been a massive amount of work dealing with cremation arrangements, death certificates, all the detritus he left behind, and all the bills he left unpaid. So I've been grieving, overwhelmed and relieved that he's no longer in pain and is at peace. He was 65, but alcoholism had taken its toll, and he looked like an 80 year old. Addiction is a cruel mistress, and Jim found out the hard way that unless you face it and try to overcome it, it will eat you alive, body and soul. He became, in the past two-three years, someone I hardly recognized, an angry, hateful, cruel man who wanted to turn back the clock 37 years so he could be a carefree bachelor going out drinking, dancing and carousing every week. Unfortunately, time doesn't work that way, and he paid the price for his egotistic fantasy. Anyway, here's some tidbits and reviews of the three books I was able to read during the past few tumultuous weeks.

 

RIP to am amazing playwright.

 

Obituary Note: Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard, whose beloved plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, Night and Day, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia, Rock 'n' Roll, and Leopoldstadt, has died at the age of 88.

The New York Times called Stoppard "the Czech-born playwright who

entwined erudition with imagination, verbal pyrotechnics with arch cleverness, and philosophical probing with heartache and lust in stage works that won accolades and awards on both sides of the Atlantic, earning critical comparisons to Shakespeare and Shaw....[He] earned a reputation as the most cerebral of contemporary English-language playwrights, venturing into vast fields of scholarly inquiry--theology, political theory, the relationship of mind and body, the nature of creativity, the purpose of art--and spreading his work across the centuries and continents."

The Wall Street Journal said Stoppard "spun wordplay, philosophical

debates and scientific principles into popular theatrical entertainment, landing a string of West End and Broadway hits [and] was known for elevating intellectual theater in the public consciousness and marrying intellectual depth and dramatic entertainment."

Besides more than 30 plays, Stoppard also wrote screenplays for TV,

radio, and the movies. The best-known of them was Shakespeare in Love,

for which he and Marc Norman won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

His other screenplays included Brazil, Empire of the Sun, The Russia

House, Billy Bathgate, Enigma, Anna Karenina, and Parade's End. He

adapted his Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for film and directed

the movie.

And, as the Guardian noted, "he was the go-to writer for blockbusters in

need of a bit of spit and polish (including Indiana Jones and the Last

Crusade and the Star Wars adventure Revenge of the Sith). Steven

Spielberg once dragged him out of the shower with an urgent phone call

to discuss a problem with Schindler's List."

Among his many honors, he was knighted in 1997 and awarded the Order of

Merit in 2000. In 2013, he won the PEN Pinter Prize for his

"determination to tell things as they are." Another honor was having an

adjective based on his name included in the Oxford English Dictionary:

"Stoppardian."

Tomorrow London's West End theatres will dim their lights for two

minutes in honor of Stoppard. The Society of London Theatre's president,

Kash Bennett, said Stoppard's "extraordinary voice reshaped modern

theatre, combining intellectual daring, emotional depth and razor-sharp

wit in work that challenged, moved and delighted audiences across

generations."

This sounds fantastic, and I hope that I get the chance to see it when it debuts.

 

Movies: Rogue Male

Benedict Cumberbatch "has confirmed that he remains committed" to

adapting Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male, the 1939 British novel that he said inspired Ian Fleming to write the James Bond books, Deadline reported. Cumberbatch and his production company SunnyMarch had announced in 2016 that they planned to adapt the novel, but it hasn't happened yet.

"It's the original fugitive novel and a huge inspiration for Ian Fleming

for Bond. When we first sat down to talk about this, [we thought] is

this a bit of a guy's film?" he said recently on the SmartLess podcast,

adding that he hoped to schedule shooting for 2026.

"The longer we were exploring the themes of it and the motivation behind

the guy's actions, and the outcome, and how he's turned on by his own

side, as well as the side he's tried to take down, it's fascinating how

it plays into the political spectrum of what's going on in the world

right now," Cumberbatch added. Peter O'Toole appeared in a 1977 BBC TV

adaptation of Rogue Male, and the 1940 Twentieth Century Fox movie Man

Hunt was also based on it.

What a great idea for those who are dealing with poverty this holiday season! Books feed the soul, just as food feeds the body.

 

Cool Idea: A Giving Tuesday Yarn Tree

"This past weekend you might have noticed the yarn tree Alex built by

the register," A Novel Idea in Philadelphia, Pa., posted on Facebook. "This is our Giving Tree in honor of Giving Tuesday

(though we're going to keep it up through the holidays).... This holiday

season we encourage you to pay-it-forward. Purchase an ANI gift card,

book, ornament, etc. to go on our tree for someone in the community.

This can be done in-store or online!

"Anyone is welcome to take something from the tree--maybe for

themselves, a gift for a family member or friend, etc.--at no cost, with

no questions asked, and without stigma."

This is true...booksellers are heroic.

 

Quotation of the Day

'Booksellers Are Heroes for Their Communities'

"I grew up mostly an only child, so I spent a lot of time reading in my

room, then imagining stories of my own. Which is to say, books have

always felt like some of the very best, most satisfying company.

"These days, living in the D.C. area, my local indies have become a

refuge from the uncertainty and heartache swirling around this city.

Even as our local economy bears the brunt of a government shutdown and

massive government layoffs, when I visit Wonderland Books or Politics

and Prose, they're almost always bustling with customers. I think that's

because they supply more than books--they provide community and escape.

More than ever, I believe booksellers are heroes for their communities."--Marisa Kashino, author

RIP to the famed potboiler romance writer, Fern Michaels.

 

Obituary Note: Fern Michaels

Prolific author Fern Michaels, "a mother of five in suburban New Jersey who responded to her husband's request to get a job by taking up writing, only to blossom into a bestselling author of more than 200 romances and thrillers," died on November 12, the New York Times reported. She was 92. Michaels began her career writing with a partner, Roberta Anderson, but took legal control of the pen name (her real name was Mary Kuczkir) in 1989 and adopted it as her public persona in interviews.

She sold an estimated 150 million books, according to Kensington

Publishing, her longtime publisher. Her work has been translated into 20

languages. She was best known for the Sisterhood series, a collection of

36 romantic thrillers that began with Weekend Warriors (2003),

Michaels credited a steely resolve that allowed her to launch a writing

career in her 40s: "When my youngest went off to kindergarten, my

husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact

words. I didn't know how to do anything except be a wife and mother....

Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a

book. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess

what, I don't have that husband anymore." Although the couple never

divorced, they separated in the early 1970s.

She met Anderson, another suburban mother, while working part time in

market research. They chose their pen name because Michaels liked the

name Michael, and had a huge plastic fern in her living room. The Times

wrote that "the duo worked odd jobs, including cleaning clogged drains

and taking door-to-door surveys, before publishing the first Fern

Michaels novel, Pride & Passion, in 1975.... Two years later, they

achieved a commercial breakout with Captive Passions."

"Fern's books became a safe place for women to find someone who not only

understood what they were going through, but also celebrated them," said

Esi Sogah, who edited several of her novels for Kensington. "She gave us

a window into the world the way it could be, and showed us how to have a

fun time doing it."

After she took over the pen name, Michaels continued her relentless pace

for decades. Even into her 90s, she typically published four books a

year. She recently embarked on a new series, Twin Lights, and published

the first installment, Smuggler's Cove, in August. Code Blue, the 37th

Sisterhood novel, will be published this month, and several more books

are scheduled for publication in the coming year.

"Is Fern Michaels a great writer? No," she wrote on her website. "She is

however, one hell of a story teller. When people ask me what I do, I

say, 'I scribble and tell stories.' It's a great way to make a living."

 

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle is a YA romantasy that has just the perfect amount of spice and sexual tension, and also has a mystery laden plot with plenty of twists and turns, well outlined by straightforward and gleaming prose. Here's the blurb: In the dark underbelly of a beautiful city, two rival assassins are pitted against each other in a deadly game of revenge, where the most dangerous mistake of all is falling in love in this “steamy” young adult fantasy.

In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers—the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?

Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic…and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together. 

 

 I loved Sera's strong backstory and her commitment to her goal of taking out the bad guys and bringing light to all the darkness created by her mother's hatred of her father, the head of the Daggers assassins. I also loved the fact that she was no shrinking violet or damsel in distress, and she let Ransom know this right from the start, so there was no misunderstanding her goal and determination. Of the two, Ransom was the more emotional, confused and unable to accomplish anything due to his infatuation with Sera. Usually in romance fiction the woman gives it all up for the handsome guy, but it was the opposite here, which was refreshing. The prose was juicy and very well done, gripping enough to turn this novel into a page-turner that I couldn't put down. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantasy with very moderate spice.

 

Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr is an LGBTQ romance that was very spicy and full of emotional backstory and reveals. Here's the blurb: Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding―is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more…

On a whim―and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind―Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show.

Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.

 This charming lesbian romance had a lot going for it, not the least of which is sparkling prose and a faster than lightening plot that will keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. Though the descriptive sex scenes were a bit too frequent and overly done, IMO, I'm glad that there are books like this for budding lesbians everywhere to read and know that their desires are normal and natural. The characters introspection was also a bit much, but, though this isn't my usual fare, it was so well done it doesn't matter...a well told story is a well told tale, no matter the genre. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone in the LGBTQ community, or those who are wondering about their sexuality and looking for roadmaps on their journey.

 

Bonded By Thorns by Elizabeth Helen is a fairy tale romantasy very spicey LGBTQ retelling of Beauty and the Beast that I found to be blush-inducing and charming all at once. Here's the blurb: 

Four beastly princes. One awkward bookworm. An enchanted world of fae, magic, and danger.

I've always loved fairytales. I never imagined I'd actually be in one.

When my father wanders into the enchanted realm of the fae, I know I have to go after him. And when he gets imprisoned, I'll do anything to save him... Even trade my freedom for his. I had no idea I'd end up imprisoned by four fae princes who turn into beasts at night.

I have to win my freedom, and that means making a bargain with them. They must find their mates in order to break the curse. If I can help them do that, they'll set me free. Sounds simple, right?

It's not. Because against my better judgment, I'm starting to fall for these beastly princes. One is smart and sweet, the other mysterious and deadly, another flirty and confident, and the last prince... He's handsome, strong, has a wicked temper, and is dead-set against breaking the curse. Why does he want to keep me here forever?

But it's not just my freedom on the line. If I don't break the princes' curse soon, all the magic in the Enchanted Vale will be stolen by the evil—and stupidly hot—Prince of Thorns. And I'm not letting my princes stay cursed.

Not after I've fallen in love with them.

Though there's lots of metaphors in this book, I'm not completely sure what the thorns represent, unless they're male anatomy covers. There's a lot of descriptive gay male sex that goes on in this book, though the beauty has 4 male suitors and I'd expected at least one "throuple" or "group sex" scene somewhere, but was disappointed. An effort is made to tell readers that all the main characters are actually bisexual, but none of those scenarios are ever played out. There were some dark and bloody scenes here, and alight bondage, while it was apparent that each character was insecure in one way or another. I liked that the castle was run by women who shape-shifted into adorable animals like bunnies or raccoons at night, while the four princes become savage wolves. The prose was clean and crisp, and the plot beautifully swift, which was a blessing since the book was over 500 pages long, so it was never a slog to read. Engrossing, if somewhat redundant with the constant gay male sex scenes, I'd still give this beautifully created (great cover art and rosy burgundy edges) novel a B, and recommend it to anyone looking for some spicy male on male action and an elegant retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Warning, this is the first part of a series, so cliffhangers are inevitable.