You Are Here Comes to TV, Obit for Joseph Caldwell, Tryst Bookstore Opens in Walla Walla Washington, Obituary for Ursula Hegi, Secrets of the Catalogue by Amelia Spencer, Penitence by Kristin Koval, Sea of Charms by Beth Durst, The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman, and Look on the Bright Side by Kristin Higgins

The Dog days of Summer are almost over, though not without more high temps and thunderstorms, unfortunately. I've spent the past couple of weeks in and out of Emergency rooms, all to mostly no avail, as no one wants to get me an MRI for a very painful left knee. Still, I had my first paracentisis, and they took 20 pounds or 10 liters of water, the most they're allowed to remove, from my abdomen, which was amazing, but seems to have caused me to have Crohns flares that are increasingly more painful in the days following. Today I could barely sit up. But with some pain meds and tea and toast, I fight on. Here's some tidbits and a lot of reviews that I've been saving up until I was able to sit in a chair for longer than an half hour. Enjoy, and keep cool, Autumn is right around the corner!

I can hardly wait for this program to come on to a streaming service...it sounds fascinating. 

TV: You Are Here

Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers) will star in You Are Here, a BBC and Starz adaptation of David Nicholls's bestselling novel. Deadline reported that Nicholls has written the eight-part series, which will be produced by Element Pictures. Lenny Abrahamson (Normal People) is the director.

Set along the coast-to-coast walking trail from the Lake District to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire in England, You Are Here will be filmed in the Lake District and around Manchester. Deadline shared the synopsis: "When a mutual friend throws them together, Marnie and Michael unexpectedly find themselves setting off on an epic walk. Against the odds, they end up on the brink of a relationship that neither was looking for, but which might be exactly the one they both need."

"I'm so delighted to be working on You Are Here with Element, the BBC, Starz, and Lenny, whose work I've admired for many years," said Nicholls. " We can't wait to bring Marnie and Michael's journey to the screen."

I used to watch Dark Shadows with my brother, and was terrified of Barnabas Collins, so much so that my mother banned me from watching the program...of course, as I got older, I watched reruns, often laughing at how cheesy the melodrama was. My late husband adored DS, and collected books and videos of the program. He never met a cheesy program he didn't love.

Obituary Note: Joseph Caldwell

Joseph Caldwell, an award-winning novelist whose fiction explored faith, love, loss and moral ambiguity, and whose earlier career helped shape the cult television phenomenon Dark Shadows, died of a stroke on July 13. He was 97. 

Over a career spanning more than five decades, Caldwell was a playwright, memoirist, television writer and actor, though he became best known for a series of acclaimed novels that earned praise from critics for their precise yet elegant prose and psychological depth. His honors included the Rome Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the John Golden Fellowship in Playwriting from Yale University and the American Broadcasting Company Fellowship in Playwriting.

Before turning to fiction, Caldwell devoted himself to theater and television writing. After becoming disillusioned with several theatrical productions, he joined the writing staffs of the daytime dramas Love of Life and The Secret Storm. He later became a principal writer for the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, where producer Dan Curtis asked the writing staff to create "a vampire for the kids for the summer." Working with fellow writer Ron Sproat, Caldwell helped create Barnabas Collins, the reluctant vampire who became the series' defining character.

Caldwell later said that giving Barnabas a conscience provided the writers with "something always to play against," transforming him from a conventional monster into a tragic figure. The character's popularity propelled Dark Shadows to an audience of about 20 million viewers and secured its place in television history.

Raised Roman Catholic, he moved to New York in the 1950s, where he began living openly as a gay man while wrestling with the tensions between his religious faith, his sexuality, and his artistic ambitions. That lifelong conflict found its fullest expression in his memoir, In the Shadow of the Bridge (Delphinium, 2019). The book recounts his youthful relationship with an emotionally distant photographer and traces its consequences across decades. It culminates in his volunteer work with AIDS patients through a program at St. Vincent's Hospital, where he ultimately cared for his former lover during his final illness.

Caldwell turned to fiction in the late 1970s. His first novel, In Such Dark Places (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1978), follows a gay photographer who witnesses a stabbing and searches for his stolen camera, believing it contains evidence of the crime.  His final novel, Lazarus Rising, published on the eve of the Covid pandemic, tells the story of an artist whose unexpected recovery from AIDS leads to unforeseen tragedy.

Whether writing about rural New England, contemporary New York, Naples or Ireland, Caldwell returned repeatedly to characters seeking grace after loss. His work examined the difficult coexistence of faith, desire and conscience with quiet compassion, qualities that earned him the admiration of critics and a devoted readership. --Joe Olsham and Carl Lennertz

I really wish that I could investigate this delightful sounding bookstore just a couple of hours from where I currently reside in MV, Wash. 

Tryst, a Romance Bookstore Debuts in Walla Walla, Wash.

Tryst, a romance bookstore, hosted a grand opening celebration, which "saw lines out the door from the pink bookstore," on July 28 at 39 E. Main St. in Walla Walla, Wash., the Union-Bulletin reported, adding: "While small, the store is stocked with a broad range of subgenres including queer stories, paranormal pieces and everything in between."

"Since I was little, I thought that having a bookstore would be the perfect thing, the perfect job," said owner Jen Sharon, who has also worked as an independent proofreader and editor for fiction writing for the past four years, with a number of her clients writing romance. After seeing many romance-specific bookstores open in the Seattle area, Sharon and her husband, Jim, saw a niche they could fill in Walla Walla.

"The classifier of a romance novel is that it has a happily ever after ending," she said. "So, who doesn't need to feel happy and read happy endings in this world?... I want to carry what the people in town want to read." Sharon envisions the bookstore as a gathering place, with customers able to participate in different book clubs with a cozy seating area. She plans to expand programming to hold author signings and book release parties.

After the grand opening, Sharon posted on social media: "I want to thank everyone who came out for Tryst's grand opening yesterday! I was blown away with how many people were ready and waiting for the doors to open! That was a lot of people in my tiny store all at once, but we made it, and I hope you all enjoyed your visit. I already need to restock! And also thanks to everyone who suggested a favorite author or title. I'll be keeping a list."

Stones from the River was brilliant, and I'm sorry to see this great writer hang up her pen. RIP U.H.

Obituary Note: Ursula Hegi

Ursula Hegi, "a novelist who drew on her childhood in post-World War II Germany to write searing books about silence, community, and historical memory," including the bestselling Stones from the River, died on July 27, the New York Times reported. She was 80. Born in the western half of occupied Germany just after WWII, she immigrated to the U.S. after high school and became an American citizen, though her native country served as the wellspring for much of her writing.

She was best known for a cycle of four novels, set during the first half of the 20th century, that take place in the fictional German town of Burgdorf. Beginning with Floating in My Mother's Palm (1990), the quartet explored the ways in which the people of the town both acknowledge and ignore the dark passage of history around them. Burgdorf, she wrote, was the sort of provincial locale where life "happened slower and later than in most other places."

"Hegi's genius lies in her ability to recreate the Nazi era without ever calling up its nomenclature," Barbara Finkelstein wrote in a Chicago Tribune review. "There is not a word in here about gas chambers, Gestapo agents or Jews."

Hegi's second Burgdorf novel, Stones from the River (1994), launched with a modest original print run of 25,000, but in 1997 Oprah Winfrey chose it for her year-old Oprah's Book Club, driving the book onto bestseller lists and prompting the publisher to print 1.5 million hardcover copies and 500,000 paperbacks.

Stones from the River revolves around Trudi Montag, a dwarf who is "both an outcast and a fixture of town life, an indispensable gossip and fixer," the Times noted, adding: "In Ms. Hegi's hands, Trudi becomes a sharp lens for examining the ways in which Burgdorf--and Germany writ large--responds to the Nazi era."

In addition to her nine novels, Hegi wrote two books of short stories, a children's book, and a nonfiction work, Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America (1997), for which she interviewed hundreds of German Americans who had been born around the Nazi era.

"If you want to look at fiction as the building, I had the building but I also had the scaffolding that helped me to build this building," she told Focus on Literatur. "And if we were to leave the scaffolding on the building it would be very ugly. So it was a real challenge and took a lot of revisions to massage the research into the text."

Secrets of the Catalogue by Amelia Spencer is a bizarre dark fantasy that starts out with an interesting premise, but loses steam about halfway through, becoming boring and pedestrian. Here's the blurb: When Emerson Blackwell discovers a secret library in New York City where the books are doorways into magical worlds, it seems like she's found the perfect adventure. But as Emerson begins to explore the Catalogue, she is drawn into a world filled with secrets and more questions than answers.

Eight years ago, Emerson Blackwell’s mother died in a tragic fire and she booked a one-way ticket to New York City to escape her grief. But the trauma of her past comes rushing back when she uncovers a Library in the heart of the city where the books are doorways to magical worlds. However, The Central Library responsible for publishing books in the Catalogue is banning books and hunting down authors that The Central Library claims are dangerous. When Emerson finds out her mother is alive and publishing banned books, the question arises--are these books dangerous? Or is The Central Library hiding something?

As Emerson becomes entangled in a web of secrets, political rivalries, and conspiracies, she rekindles a romance with her first love, who is secretly working with her mother against The Central Library. However, tensions rise when Emerson finds herself drawn to the son of The Central Library’s Head Librarian--her mother's greatest enemy.

Secrets of the Catalogue is a dark academia fantasy romance set in a hidden New York City library where the books open portals to magical worlds. Secrets of the Catalogue is a captivating tale of love, adventure, and the blurred line between fiction and reality. Perfect for fans of political intrigue, slow burn romance, secret societies, and hidden libraries!

 

I wish that there had been more focus on the books in the hidden and forbidden libraries, and less on the wimpy and sad protagonist, Emerson, who clearly has mommy issues and doesn't really do anything about them other than harbor resentment and anger, all while cavorting with two men who are both controlling jerks, using her for their own ends. Both Silas and Adrian don't seem to understand that NO is a full sentence, and that consent is important. They jerk around Emerson (and she lets them, for reasons that are never fully explained) and go on to try and force her to choose sides in the library wars, though her mother, who abandoned her at a tender age, is the general on one side, while the head librarian is the general (and former friend of her mothers) is on the other. There's a lot of time spent on tattoos that glow gold if they're good, and red if they're bad, and also a lot of time spent in various worlds inside of books, most of which are scary and full of creatures who want to destroy the librarians hopping in and out of their world. The prose, which was sturdy in the first half, started to crumble in the second, and there was no actual ending to the novel. It just stops at a bit over 300 pages. Ugh. I'd give this disappointing novel a C, and only recommend it to those who don't mind an interesting premise destroyed by a flagging plot and dull prose.

 

Penitence by Kristin Koval is a family and coming of age novel that reads, at least to me, like one of those drippy family sagas from the 1970s. Boring. Here's the blurb: For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether the worst thing we’ve ever done is all that defines us.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness. 

 

There's not a page that goes by that doesn't "examine" GUILT, and the desire for forgiveness for the unforgivable. There's a death that Julian was involved in decades ago that he can't really do anything about now, but he suffers from guilt nonetheless, and tries to provide help to Angie, his first love, when her daughter shoots and kills her son Nico, who was suffering from Huntingtons (and probably asked her at some point to end his pain before he died in horrific circumstances), and won't talk to anyone about why or what happened, as she claims to not remember. This is Julians "penitence" for being such a coward when he didn't help out a child who died during a ski vacation. Still, he gets the job done, but all the characters are still living under the haze of past guilt, so I don't see why this story needed to be told in the first place. It got pretty boring, but I did manage to finish it anyway. I'd give it a C+ for effort, and recommend it to anyone who likes impossible court cases.

 

Sea of Charms by Beth Durst is a cozy romantasy that takes place at sea, and is fully delicious and delightful, with Durst's trademark elegant and emotional prose. Here's the blurb: Author Sarah Beth Durst brings cozy fantasy romance to the high seas in Sea of Charms, the third magical adventure in the Spellshop series!

Marin had always belonged on the great blue sea. When the man she thought was the love of her life schemed to ruin her parents’ business, she did what her heart knew best: she fled to the sea.

Now working as a supply runner on her own boat, Marin sails from island to island, delivering a varied array of goods: letters, flour, stories, and even the occasional enchanted statue. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers. Besides, she’s got the company of Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub. They’re the best crew she could ask for.

On one of her routine trips to the capital of the Crescent Islands Empire, Alyssium, Marin finds the city on fire and a revolution underway—so she offers transportation to Dax, a composer friend who refuses to leave behind his instruments. What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a (temporary) member of her crew if he becomes her pretend boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.

Against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile—and realizes that perhaps she isn’t saving him. Maybe it’s the other way around.

Sea of Charms is a cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself. Read in whatever order your heart desires, but don’t miss The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse.

 
I read and enjoyed the Spellshop and the Enchanted Greenhouse, so I expected this to be just as wonderful, and I was not disappointed. This book takes place ina musical and magical world that I'd love to visit again and again. A world of beauty, acceptance and hope...ENCORE I say to all three! Though I adored Perri the sea serpent, Ree the bush's dialed up optimism and zero filter got on my nerves more than a few times. Dax and his crystal horns and musical genius made up for any and all annoyance, however, as he made the disparate crew into a sort of musical sailing family, and his love for Marin, though she tried to be emotionally closed off, was gorgeous and heart-rending. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to any and all TJ Klune and Fanny Flagg fans. This is a book whose prose will grip you and take you on an adventure in a swift plot to an HEA ending.

 

The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman is a YA magical romantic fiction novel with heartfelt storytelling and a fascinating premise that will keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: 

With her signature blend of magical and heartfelt storytelling, author Jennifer Moorman returns with The Charmed Library, a love letter to libraries, favorite childhood stories, and readers who have fallen for fictional heroes.

 

Like many other public libraries, the one in Blue Sky Valley, North Carolina, is a haven for readers. But it's also unlike any other. In this library, fictional characters step off the page into real life. Assistant librarian Stella Parker has no idea. Still reeling from her father's death and--more recently--a breakup, she hasn't noticed. All she knows is she's stuck in a job she's overqualified for and stumped about what to do with her life.

 

Everything changes when she burns her beloved journal.

 

Words matter to Stella. For as long as she can remember, she's seen them. Words appear--in varying colors and fonts--rising from surfaces, bouncing over objects, and even wiggling out of people. Words give her insight into emotions and untold stories. But the words change for Stella after she burns her journal. Suddenly they're demanding, urgent--and painful.

Then Stella stumbles upon strange characters in the library after hours. One is an oddly familiar World War II soldier who introduces himself as Jack--Jack Mathis, the main character from her favorite book. A fictional hero and Stella's first crush. Standing in front of her in the flesh.

 

Jack tells Stella about the magic hidden in the library. Skeptical, Stella rashly invites a villain to visit, and chaos ensues. As she discovers the importance of protecting the library's secret and gets to know the real Jack, words continue to appear. What are they trying to tell her?

Much too quickly, Stella is faced with the reality that all stories must end, and magic comes at a price. The characters who visit the library can only stay for fourteen days. And Jack's time is almost up.

A cozy, Hallmark-esque rom-com, The Charmed Library invites readers to escape to a world where words come alive and book boyfriends leap off the page.

 

I was totally on board with the book boyfriend idea, having had more than a few myself over the years. Though Moorman takes it a step further by trying to force a way for Jack and Stella to be together forever, though she knows that fictional characters are only allowed out of their books for two weeks, lest they escape and their books disintegrate forever, as if they'd never existed. While its never actually outlined why Jack is such a hero, he proves himself by helping Stella corral other fictional characters longing to escape into the real world, damning the consequences. I love that Stella sees important words and phrases all around her, and that she tries to be practical amongst all the magic of the book characters coming alive, allowing them to pretend to be actors to do readings and reinactments at book festivals and holidays. Moormans prose is rock solid, and her plot takes interesting twists and turns. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has ever forged an emotional connection to a fictional character.

 

Look on the Bright Side by Kristin Higgins is a family rom-com that is fun and satisfying, and zooms along on a breezy plot with sunny prose. Here's the blurb: From the author of Pack Up the Moon comes a funny, romantic, and deeply moving novel about the unexpected rewards that come from life’s detours.

Lark Smith has always had a plan for her life: find a fantastic guy, create a marriage as blissful as her parents’, pop out a couple of kids and build a rewarding career as an oncologist.

Things aren’t going so well.

For one, the guy didn’t work out. Theoretically, she’d love to find someone else, but it hasn’t happened. Two, she’s just been transferred out of oncology for being too emotional. (Is it her fault she’s a weeper?) Three, her parents just split up.

Deviating from the plan was…well, not in the plan. A potential solution comes from the foul-tempered and renowned surgeon Lorenzo Santini (aka Dr. Satan). He needs a date this summer for his sister’s wedding. His ancient Noni wants to see him settled. In exchange, he could make a few introductions and maybe get Lark back into the field of her choice.

As a sucker for old people and fake relationships, Lark agrees. Teeny problem—she instantly falls for his big, warm family. Especially his estranged brother.

Meanwhile, Lark’s mom has moved in with Lark’s colorful landlady, Joy, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. The three women have a long summer and a big beautiful house on the ocean to figure out what’s next…and quite possibly learn that the best things in life aren’t planned at all. 

 

I loved Lark and her mom and Joy's relationship, all of which were inspiring because they involved women helping lift up other women, and allowing themselves to grow into specific situations. I'm glad that Lark realizes early on that Dr Satan (the surgeon, and surgeon's being cold-hearted asshats is so familiar its almost a cliche), will never change, and that she is better off falling in love with his brother, who is a nice guy, diametrically opposed to his cold and cruel sibling. Lark also realizes that she doesn't need to honor a family member who died of cancer by becoming an oncologist. She flourishes in the ER, where her talents as a quick-thinking diagnostician are needed and valued, vs the oncology ward, where her emotions often get the better of her when faced with daily death sentences. There's a lovely HEA that doesn't stint on the warm fuzzies, either. I'd give this fascinating and warm beach read an A, and recommend it to anyone who needs a change in their life and career path.

 

Peculiar Stars on TV, The New Dark Ages Book Review, Children of Blood and Bone Movie, Quote of the Day, Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong, The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong, A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn, Endless Anger by Sav R Miller, and The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

YAY, it's August, and we're nearing the end of another grueling summer. I can hardly wait for falls cooler temps, and I'm excited for the holiday season, which is just around the corner. I've been struggling with a swollen and painful knee and my Crohns afflicted gut, so that's been painful and required a couple of trips to the ER (to no avail, all they could offer me was pain meds). Since it's painful and somewhat dangerous to get out of bed, I've been doing a lot of reading, so I've got 5 book reviews for you today, which would have been my fathers 94th birthday, had he not died of Lewy Body Dementia in 2019. Anyway, we're in the home stretch, folks!   

TV: Peculiar Stars

Apple TV "has stepped up to preemptively" to acquire the rights to Peculiar Stars, the upcoming (November 17 release) novel from bestselling author Rebecca Yarros, in "a competitive situation, with multiple studios and producers pursuing," Deadline reported, adding that Apple TV is "staking a claim in the romance series space, announcing its ambitions in the genre where the streamer has had limited presence so far."

Apple Studios will develop Peculiar Stars as a TV series, with Yarros serving as executive producer through her Full Measures Productions. A search is underway for a writer to adapt the novel.

Book Review

The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

What a difference a few centuries can make. According to James Marriott, a journalist for the London Times and the author of the lively but heartbreaking jeremiad The New Dark Ages, "reading is dying." It wasn't always so. Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, invented in the 15th century, "had opened the way for the mass circulation of books." By the 18th century, "everyone, everywhere, had started reading: men, women, children, the rich, the poor." Fast forward to the 21st, however, and English literature students at U.S. colleges have "struggled to understand the first paragraph of Dickens's novel Bleak House." What's a concerned bibliophile to do? Marriott's answer, winningly if ironically, was to write a book.

It's a good one. Marriott believes in the supremacy of the written word. He grew up in the north of England in the early 2000s, where his father, an English teacher, "brought me up to regard literature as the central part of life." Over the years, he's seen video win the battle for command of attention spans. He cites several villains, but for Marriott, the biggest is the smartphone. "The introduction of smartphones into human culture is analogous to the introduction of an invasive species into a fragile ecosystem. Almost everything else withers away and dies," adding that they represent "the greatest theft of knowledge from ordinary people in history." He asserts that, compared to other technologies that prioritize imagery over words, "smartphones are dangerous because they are much more effective predators of our attention" due to their "sheer ubiquity": unlike a flat-screen TV, one can take them anywhere.

There's much more to Marriott's argument, including his concern that video's triumph constitutes a threat to democracy, which he says is unsustainable without the reasoning skills literacy fosters. Its rise, moreover, explains the success of Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump, who figured out that to achieve their ends, "politics needed to become entertaining; for that it required chaos and drama and personality." One could have a vigorous debate over whether smartphones are inherently more corrosive than, say, the equally ubiquitous penny dreadfuls of the 19th century. That this book raises the question in the first place, however, is to its credit. Like-minded souls won't be cheered by this exceptional work, but it's always nice to know one isn't alone. And that's something the centuries haven't changed. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Movies: Children of Blood and Bone

Paramount has released a trailer for Children of Blood and Bone, based Tomi Adeyemi's 2018 novel. Variety reported that the trailer "introduces Thuso Mbedu as Zelie, a woman with the power to command undead spirits. Her homeland, the kingdom of Orisha, is divided into clans with different magical abilities. Under King Saran's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) reign of terror, magic is suppressed."

The cast also features Damson Idris as Prince Inan, Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari, Tosin Cole as Zelie's brother Tzain, and Regina King as Queen Nehanda. They join Lashana Lynch, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, and Viola Davis. The film hits theaters January 15, 2027.

The logline: "In the epic fantasy world of Orïsha, a young woman goes on a quest to reclaim the magic that was violently stolen from her people. She and her brother ally with the daughter and son of the king to fight back against his brutal rule."

Gina Prince-Bythewood directed Children of Blood and Bone. It was shot in various locations in Africa. Prince-Bythewood "wanted to give the actors a real-life backdrop to adapt the novel into a grounded film, even with magical elements," Variety noted.

Quotation of the Day

"Stores like that--independent bookstores--they're portals into all these different worlds. They give you access to all these different worlds and, for me, that became my first encouragement to imagine and to create and to learn. I wanted to learn about everything. I wanted to pick up every book. It encouraged me to imagine.

"And to this day, whenever I walk into a bookstore, I feel safe and welcome, but also that encouragement to imagine and create. A bookstore is like having a dog--there's a universality to it. People from all different backgrounds and cultures can come in and share being a fan of a book or anticipating a new book. In the same way that people of all different backgrounds or political affiliations can enjoy talking about our dogs. Bookstores give us space to be a community and I love it."--Paul Yoon, author

 

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong is the third "Rip Through Time" historical mystery/time travel romantasy fiction novel, and as with the other two of this series, it's a real corker. Here's the blurb: Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1860s and the other in the present day from author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

 

I enjoy this series because the books are so well written, with tight, clean prose and a stalwart plot that sings...there's just enough romance and just enough mystery and history to slake the thirst of romance and mystery readers alike. The characters are fun and well written, the story arc elegantly created and the mystery not easily solved. I was entranced from the first page to the last. I'd give this fascinating novel an A, though I would caution those who are squeamish to realize that the male protagonist is a funeral director and an early medical examiner, so there's a bit of gore here and there, and a reminder from the time-traveling female protagonist that Victorians didn't know about germs or proper hand washing, so you have to imagine that the smells and tastes of the time were somewhat grotesque. 

 

The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong is an LGBTQ cozy romantasy  that is sweet and satisfying if you're in the mood for a book that is soothing and quietly powerful for those on the LGBTQ spectrum. Here's the blurb: 

An almost-mage discovers friendship—and maybe something more—in the unlikeliest of places in this delightfully charming novel from author of  Julie Leong, who also wrote The Teller of Small Fortunes.

Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.

The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all, avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.

Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.

The slow-burn relationship between Cert and Aurelia is delightful, and Cert's coming into her magical powers, and her ability to use small magics to make a big difference in the lives of those in a small, down-at-the-heels village is truly heartening. While there's some redundancies in the plot, the pixie-dust positivity of the prose smooths over some of the rough spots, though I wish an editor could have cut about 30 pages out of the book to make the plot not sag in the middle. Still, an effective HEA and I would give this sweet novel a B, and recommend it to those interested in magical lesbian fantasy lit.

 

A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn is the 10th historical romance/mystery starring one of my favorite sleuthing duos, Speedwell and Stoker, smart and savvy investigators of the late 19th century. Here's the blurb: Veronica and Stoker are practically dying for a new adventure, but when their wish is granted, they find themselves up against a secret society and a darkly seductive duo in this landmark historical mystery from author Deanna Raybourn.

When the corpse of an entitled young man is found entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to Highgate Cemetery, Veronica’s interest is piqued. And then a second victim is found, his death made to look like a suicide—and Veronica and her intrepid beau Stoker know the hunt is on. The two men share one link: they were both members of a society so secretive that only a singular mention of it can be found anywhere.

Thirsty for more clues, Veronica and Stoker hear that a young Romany boy may know more about their first victim, and the only way to the boy is through an old acquaintance of Stoker’s, Lady Julia Brisbane. Lady Julia and her dashing husband, Nicholas, occasionally track down murderers and are only too happy to help. But as it becomes clear that the secret society is a dangerous sect looking to entice immortality seekers, Veronica and Stoker find themselves ensnared by a decidedly more sinister couple.

The professed leader of the society claims to be a creature of the night; his partner practices witchcraft and they both fancy themselves emissaries of the otherworldly. Just as Veronica and Stoker get closer to learning the true purpose of the society and unraveling this macabre mystery, another body turns up, and they quickly discover they’ve gone from being the hunters to the hunted. 

 

I love that this novel was a collab with Raybourn's other sleuthing duo, Lady Julia Gray and Nicholas Brisbane. Both duos are fascinating in their own way, and unconventionally open-minded for the time period. Rayborn's prose sparkles, and her plots never flag or sag. Once I open one of her novels, I tend to keep turning pages until the end, which can be a problem for whatever else I have planned for the day. I find it interesting that insane old (or middle aged) white men always have a hard-on for immortality, though even a person with a modicum of intelligence must realize that if immortality were attainable, it would already have been perfected and commercialized and sold by now. Your creative work, and your children may leave behind a legacy for the future, but that's about it. To make others suffer for your pursuit of a myth is senseless and cruel. But even today, we have middle aged white wealthy men trying to reach immortality through space travel and many other ridiculous wastes of money and time (when that money could be better spent helping the poor). At any rate, I'd give this sumptuous novel an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in late 19th century sleuthing duos.

 

Endless Anger by Sav R Miller is a beautifully designed book, with gorgeous cover art and swirled colored edges. But don't let the fancy packaging fool you, this is a horror/romance novel trying to hide behind the label of "dark academia" fantasy, which is more commercial. Ugh. Here's the blurb: 

From author Sav R. Miller comes a dark and twisted contemporary romance inspired by the Greek Furies, set at an exclusive (and dangerous) university.

Asher Anderson is angry―at the world, at himself, at the way his best friend Lucy Wolfe seems determined to tune out this buzzing connection between them. He doesn't mean to solve all his problems with violence, but maybe he has too much of his father in him. That's why the faculty at Avernia College hates him, right? Because of the "evil" blood in his veins?

He should know better than to darken the old, ivy-covered university's door, but it's practically a law of the universe: wherever Lucy goes, Asher follows. Even if that means entering a twisting labyrinth of secret societies, human sacrifices, and a very personal history soaked in blood.

Lucy is used to being an outcast. She's even used to Asher being her dark, brooding shadow. What she isn't used to is him shattering her resolve by taking her up against library bookshelves as she desperately pretends her heart hasn't always been his. She should know better than to play with fire, but with unexplained deaths and pointed threats ripping apart the university's fabric, Asher and Lucy soon find themselves at the center of the turmoil…where they'll have to confront their feelings or die trying.

Sometimes the pomegranate doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

The male protagonist is a nasty creep and a possessive controlling nightmare who essentially rapes the female protagonist (as he considers her "his" he doesn't feel the need to ask for consent from the confused girl) and continues to have a cruel and mean attitude throughout the novel, which only makes him an asshat, not a brooding hero. But he can't help himself as his parents are "furies" and so he's naturally angry and mean and violent, and doesn't take NO for an answer, so he preys on poor stupid immature Lucy for the entire novel. The prose is sub-par and the plot twisted and confusing, and the ending is completely unsatisfying. If I would have realized the rot in the story behind the pretty cover and end papers, I never would have bought it. I'd give this waste of paper a C-, and recommend that anyone wanting to read it find something else to peruse, or at least a novel with a female protagonist with a spine.

 

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew is considered YA "dark fantasy" though I would strongly recommend that any young people reading this work are at the higher age range of YA (say in their early 20s). It's another example of publishers hiding a horror novel behind the term "dark" fantasy and then adding a bunch of horrific blood, gore and torture to the text to somehow "liven" it up. YUCK. Here's the blurb: 

Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she's Deaf. So when she's accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she's excited for the chance to prove herself. But her semester gets off to a rocky start as she faces professors who won't accommodate her disability, and a pretentious upperclassman fascinated by Delaney's unusual talents.

Colton Price died when he was nine years old. Quite impossibly, he woke several weeks later at the feet of a green-eyed little girl. Now, twelve years later, Delaney Meyers-Petrov has stumbled back into his orbit, but Colton's been ordered to keep far away from the new girl... and the voices she hears calling to her from the shadows.

Delaney wants to keep her distance from Colton -- she seems to be the only person on campus who finds him more arrogant than charming -- yet after a Godbole student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit-hole of deeply buried university secrets. But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them -- and their forbidden partnership -- apart.

 

This awful novel is a shoddy re-telling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, of a man who goes to Hell to save the woman he loves soul, and fails because he can't help but look back to see if she's following him out of Hell. Stupid guy who proves once again that men can't be counted on to do what they're told, or follow the rules (or directions), no matter how simple they are. The prose is weird, and the plot unsatisfying, while the ending is senseless. Though the novel is well designed with black and pink and white endpapers, if you're looking for a good solid story, you won't find it here. I'd give this book a C-, and only recommend it to those who enjoy horror fantasy with weak protagonists. 

 

Moonsong Movie, Secret of Secrets Comes to TV, Quote of the Day, Scrolling Stories in Canada, Stats from Last Year, Matt Haig Opens Bookshop, The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden, The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, The Museum of Second Chances by Jo Leevers, and By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Welcome to the final weeks of July! It's going to be hotter than the devil's back porch outside, and since I burn like a lobster in the sun, I'm going to stay inside and enjoy the AC and read some hopefully good books. Meanwhile, I've been having a rough go of it with my Crohn's, so I will try to make it through this post ASAP. I'm hoping more help arrives in the form of Nicks friends, all of whom think of me as their second mom, very soon, because there are things I can't do, like garbage wrangling and laundry, that need to be attended to right now. Nick's having a grand time in Canada with his fiance, Sylvie, but he's not back until the first of August, so I am having to rely on others to help me out while he's gone, which is frustrating. Getting old is rough, ya'all. 

Margaret Wise Brown's books were a staple of Nick's childhood, as I read them to him over and over again, from the time I brought him home until he learned to read when he was in first grade. I will be keeping an eye out for this movie. 

Movies: Moonsong: A Life in Seven Verses

Elle Fanning and Julianne Moore will star in Moonsong: A Life in Seven Verses, a new film from Rebecca Miller (Maggie's Plan, She Came to Me). Deadline reported that the film, based on the book Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus, tells the story of the beloved children's book author whose classic books include Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, originally published in the 1940s.

Miller is writing the script and will direct the project, which was brought to her and her Round Films producing partner Damon Cardasis by Amanda Goodwin, Keri Selig, and Sasha Alexander. Martin Scorsese will executive produce, with production to begin in spring 2027.

I ADORE the Gilded Age, specifically Carrie Coon's performance and Morgan Spector as her husband....but seriously, all the actors in this series are amazing in their enaction of their fantastic scripts. The costumes are also glorious and the sets perfection. I hope that Spector enjoys bringing this Dan Brown thriller to life.

TV: The Secret of Secrets

Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age) "is poised to succeed America's Dad Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon," Deadline reported, adding that Spector "is in negotiations to headline" Netflix's series adaptation of Dan Brown's latest novel, The Secret of Secrets. Rebecca Hall (The Town) is also in talks to co-star. Filming is scheduled to begin this fall in Prague.

In The Secret of Secrets, "symbologist Robert Langdon (Spector) races against ancient forces and time to rescue his girlfriend, missing scientist Katherine Solomon (Hall), and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity's understanding of the mind," Deadline wrote.

Truer words were never spoken...I have always wanted to open a bookstore, but, being a business woman who runs a company and has employees is truly beyond my ken...I would have to rely on the help of other booksellers to help me set up the business and keep it running, things I have no idea how to accomplish right now.

Quotation of the Day

'Thankfully, I've Learned So Much from Other Booksellers'

"I wasn't prepared for how much hard work it is to keep a bookstore well-stocked and running smoothly. Any new entrepreneur will tell you the same thing. Figuring out the industry from the booksellers' side was a huge learning curve. Thankfully, I've learned so much from other booksellers, who are universally kind and helpful, and that has made all the difference. Much more than that, though, I've been so blown away by the level of support from the people in this town. I still hear at least once a day 'I am so glad we have a bookstore here now! Warkworth needed one!' It brings me so much joy, and I'm so grateful."--Sarah Lilleyman, who opened Spencer Books in Warkworth, Ont., Canada, earlier this year

I love how literate Canadians are, and this list reveals just how intent they are in keeping libraries and bookstores thriving. Go Canada!

Scrolling Stories: E-book Use in Canada 2025

BookNet Canada reveals the buying, borrowing, and reading habits of Canadian e-book consumers. Among the highlights:

* 71% of Canadians read an e-book in 2025.

* 34% of all Canadian book buyers bought e-books and 29% of all Canadian

book borrowers borrowed e-books last year.

* Canadian e-book buyers spent an average of $11.85 per e-book in 2025.

* E-book buyers were more influenced by price than all buyers: 41% of

Canadian e-book buyers purchased their books at a specific location due

to a good price, offer, or promo compared with only 29% of Canadian book buyers.

* 55% of Canadian e-book borrowers gave wanting to save money as the

reason they borrowed rather than bought their e-books.

* More than half of all Canadian e-book readers in 2025 read between one

and five e-books last year (59%).

* The largest share of e-book readers used their smartphones to read their books (36%).

Having read all his works, I imagine Haig will be a proper bookseller, and I wish I could hop across the pond and visit his new book shop when it opens. And I totally agree with him that all communities need a good bookstore to make life interesting. They also foster literacy and conversation and give people a safe space to learn and grow. Thanks, Matt Haig. I hope your store succeeds beyond your wildest imagination!

Author Matt Haig to Open Bookshop in Brighton, England

Author Matt Haig, whose bestselling books include The Midnight Library and Reasons to Stay Alive, will be launching the Golden Bookshop later this year in the Seven Dials neighborhood of Brighton, England, in a part of the city that doesn't currently have a bookshop. His goal is to open the store by Christmas.

In an Instagram post, Haig wrote: "My belief, as someone who grew up in a town without a bookshop, is that all communities should have a bookshop because bookshops save civilization and make life interesting. This bookshop will be about freedom. We won't be pushing things we don't want to push. Just good books. Curated by me and people I trust. Mind-bending books. Tearful books. Banned books. Fun books. Graphic novels. Kids' books. Grownup books. Really cool music and art books. Books with words. Books that have no words but are really gorgeous to flick through. Books that are actually vinyl records. The best dead and living writers. It will also have some comfy places to sit and drink some really good coffee. The occasional evening event. No stuffy vibes. No genre snobbery. No high/low book classism. You are welcome here. And so is your dog."

In an update over the weekend, Haig noted that since word got out about the bookshop, Golden had already received about 200 applications and work inquiries even though none have been requested yet. The first steps in the process will be renovating the space and finding "a manager who knows their stuff and who we trust." He added that "the stats are that indie bookshops don't eat each other they build each other. Books breed books. And in the age of Bezos and AI we need as many as possible. And this space would have ended up being bought by a supermarket. If a chef sets up a new restaurant are they told they should just support other restaurants instead? In America it is a tradition for authors to set up bookshops. One American tradition I really like.... It's going to be good. We are fizzing with ideas."

 

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden is a historical fantasy that taps into life in an ancient realm, where a young woman struggles for the survival of Brittany, and herself during wars and plagues and other catastrophes. Here's the blurb: In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world.
Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany. Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret. Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power. 

The prose in this novel is at times lyrical, and at other times tough and sturdy, which doesn't help the plot, which plods along and then speeds up, only to plod again in the next chapter. While it's not a long novel, the pace of the plot makes the boring bits seem to last forever, and the moving parts over much too soon. Then, at the end (SPOILER) we discover that the author made it all up, that poor Anne didn't have a choice but to marry the king of France, and be bred to death like a mare in a stable. And Brittany and her riches were subsumed by France, never to be a separate nation again. UGH. Tragic. I'd give this poorly rewritten historical fantasy a B-, and recommend this book only to those who are Francophiles and really wish that Brittany had gotten a fair shake.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett is a Southern historical fiction novel that has been on the bestseller list for a long time, and has gotten every kind of good ink and promotion possible in the publishing world. I'm not sure why, either, as it's overwritten (It's over 600 pages long, when a good editor could have cut at least 200 pages out of this behemoth) and the subject matter distressingly misogynistic and racist. Why people insist on romantisizing prostitution (and being an orphan), when it is horrifically misogynist and vile, I will never understand. Here's the blurb:

 

The multimillion-copy-selling author of The Help returns with a bold, big-hearted novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what’s rightfully theirs—and the power of friendship to change everything.

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.

Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. 

Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. 

Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates—and Meg’s—converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives (turning an old Southern mansion on the brink of foreclosure into a brothel is hardly audacious or even a sound plan for making money). But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, (non-existent) even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences. 

The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.

I realize we readers are supposed to adore the saintly Birdie, who never falls prey to sex work, and who manages to keep the brothel going even when its relatively unknown by the creepy and craven men and boys of the town, but I found her to be spineless, allowing circumstances to go to sh*t and make her choices for her, since there was nothing else to do but go in that direction. She learns to omit the truth or downright lie to everyone, and in so doing, cause a lot of heartbreak and trauma. There was nothing, IMO, heartfelt or hilarious about this novel, the black maids are stereotypical "wise and uneducated" workhorses who end up keeping the house going for next to no money, the whores are broken down, crude and crazy, and Birdie and Charlie are desperate and stupid, each trying to save something that is beyond saving, due to the depression and the whims of weak and stupid men (the BIL, married to Birdie's empty-headed greedy sister, who is in charge of the mansion, robs the place of everything valuable and runs away, because he's "caught" the "homosexuality" (like its a virus), and doesn't want anything to do with his new bride or his mother, who paid to have him "cured" of liking men, but it didn't take....Charlie has a daughter that she couldn't take care of who is suffering under the abuse of the woman who runs the orphanage, whose husband had an affair with Charlie and made the little girl, whom he allows his wife to abuse, because he's a weak creep). Every character in this book is suffering and stupid, and it becomes nauseating before you're even halfway through. The ending ties things up for Charlie, but not for Birdie, and therefore I found it unsatisfying. Too much of htis story is about what a horrific place the South is, how rotten at its core, and how it represents the worst of American "values." I'd give this doorstopper a C, and only recommend it to those who don't mind feeling like they've waded through a swamp or a sewer after they've finished a hefty novel.

The Museum of Second Chances by Jo Leevers is a mystery/community connection fiction novel that highlights the importance of letting go of the past and embracing the future. Here's the blurb: 

From author Jo Leevers comes a heartfelt story of lost things and second chances.

Every morning, Evelyn Silver walks the shoreline before the rest of Portheast wakes, gathering what the tide leaves behind. Broken cups. Lost trinkets. Objects others have discarded. In her small Museum of Maritime Curiosities, each one earns its place―because to Evelyn, every forgotten thing deserves to have its story told.

At the heart of the museum lies her most precious possession: a fragment of Cornish lace, found pinned to her blanket when she was abandoned as a newborn. For over sixty years, she has kept it close, hoping someone might one day recognise it and tell her who she really is.

So when the local council threatens to close the museum, Evelyn stands to lose far more than her livelihood. Forced out of her solitude, she rallies the community around the museum's curious collection―and as the objects begin to give up their secrets, lives start to intertwine in ways nobody expected.

Because sometimes, the most precious things aren't lost at all. They're simply waiting to be claimed.

I feel like this is the novel that The Calamity Club was trying (and failing) to be, about abandonment and finding family where you are, and learning to let go of things you don't need, but that have meaning for others. Evelyn is nearly autistic in her dedication to sweeping the beaches of her town to find bits and bobs and treasures that she can display in her museum. When she finally accepts the idea, from her crazy Aussie neighbor, to advertise some of the things she has found, to see if the owners will come forward to claim them (and tell the story behind them), things begin to change for isolated Evelyn, who learns about the local townsfolk and their moving struggles over the years. Leevers prose is almost delicate at times, and at others its fierce and strong, supporting a refreshingly straightforward plot. I'd give this intricate and interesting novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who finds fascination in the things others discard.

 

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult is a feminist historical fiction novel that focuses on Emilia Bassano, a 16th century female playwright who might have been the woman behind some of William Shakespeare's most engaging and famous plays. Here's the blurb: From the co-author of Mad Honey comes a novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.

Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.

In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten. 

The idea that Shakespeare was a "beard" for several other, more talented playwrights (Kit Marlowe, a duke and a "dark lady" like Emilia), is nothing new, there are whole societies that have sprung up over the centuries that claim that via research, its obvious that Shakespeare didn't have the time, talent or travel to have written so many masterpieces. Then there are the scholars that claim that there is no hard evidence that he didn't write them all, which is true.  Still, Picoult manages to make a strong case for Emilia, who lived in Italy long enough to have written the Italian romances, and who was wise and educated and witty enough to write comedies, and prideful enough to wish to see them produced. Picoult, who is used to writing pot boilers and thrillers, knows how to spin her elegant prose into gold, and how to keep her plot moving briskly along. Though it's not a short novel, (its over 500 pages) its fascinating enough that the book breezes along and you're over halfway through before you know it. I'd give this riveting and well researched tale a B+, and recommend it to anyone interested in classical theater or women's history, and women who were erased from history merely due to their gender.

 

InvestiGators Movie, Beaverdale Books Celebrates Expansion, Verse and Vine Opens in Poulsbo, Washington, Nocturne on TV, An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong, Canon by Paige Lewis, All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett, and Homebound by Portia Elan

Hey all! It's the start of the third week of July, and it has been hot and awful outside and in. I'm writing today during a Crohns flare, so pain will hopefully prod me to be concise, so I can take a nap (pain meds make me sleepy).  Anyway, this time around there was only one book of the four that I found decent enough for a good review, but the great news is that you don't have to waste time reading the others, you can just go on to reading something fascinating that will help you relax during vacation. Next week, from the 20th on, I will be navigating life alone, but with the help of friends and neighbors, so wish me luck!

 

This looks great, I will have to keep an eye out for it. 

Movies: InvestiGators

Animation studio Sycamore Studios has acquired the animated motion picture rights to the John Patrick Green InvestiGators book franchise, Deadline reported, adding that the crime-fighting alligators series has five million copies in print since its debut in 2020.

"Great family franchises don't come along very often, and when they do, they have a way of capturing the imagination of an entire generation. InvestiGators is one of those rare properties," said Christian McGuigan, co-founder and CEO of Sycamore Studios. "John Patrick Green has created something incredibly rare: a wholly original world that children genuinely love.... We couldn't be more excited to partner with John and bring Mango and Brash to audiences around the world."

"I've always believed InvestiGators had the potential to leap beyond the page," Green said. "It's been amazing watching readers embrace these characters over the past several years, and I'm thrilled to be partnering with Sycamore as we begin the next chapter of their adventure."

Hurrah for Beaverdale Books! I love the shout out to simpler times when (and I remember this, too) Beaverdale was a sleepy little Iowa village.

Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Iowa, to Celebrate Expansion, 20th Birthday on Saturday

Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa, will host a 20th birthday party this coming Saturday, July 11, that will also celebrate the shop's recent expansion. The Register reported that the bookstore, which took over a neighboring law office, has doubled its size. Founder and co-owner Alice Meyer joked that before the expansion, a visiting author who could attract a crowd in excess of the store's 35 chairs could claim a "standing-room only" signing. "It's very cozy."

Since 2015, Meyer has worked with Hunter Gillum, who became majority owner of the store in 2023. Gillum "will take over day-to-day operations of the store after Meyer's retirement at a date to be determined," the Register noted, adding that the new space will allow Gillum to move his office from a nook in the original store to the back of the former law office. "It was kind of like something we'd been dreaming about for years," Meyer said of the expansion. "And then we jumped on it."

Meyer, who moved to Beaverdale in 1982, recalled when the building that houses her store didn't exist: "It was a little village. Clothing stores, and there was a five-and-dime store. I might be dating myself there."

The bookstore took over the lease for the new space in September 2023, when one of the two lawyers moved out. After the other one left in January, the bookstore owners began to plan the expansion, which involved new lighting and flooring, as well as removing the wall that once separated the two sides of the store. The Register noted that Gillum "looks forward to leading the store into its future, even if it means he has less time to read (doubly so since he welcomed a baby last year)."

I hope to be able to visit this new bookstore, though I'm not a wine drinker. It sounds delightful, and I love a good romance section.

Verse & Vine Opens in Poulsbo, Wash.

Verse & Vine, a romance-focused bookstore and wine lounge, opened in Poulsbo, Wash., on July 3, the Kitsap Sun reported. Located inside of a renovated historic home at 19679 Front St. NE, Verse & Vine carries a wide selection of romance titles. The lounge serves wine, tea, and a selection of small bites. There is also a garden, which customers can reserve for things like book club meetings.

Owners and mother-daughter team Jaci Bryant and Carmen Garringer described Verse & Vine as a love letter to the Poulsbo and Kitsap County communities, which helped raise money when Garringer was diagnosed with cancer as a child.

"This community as a whole has really taken care of us," Bryant told the Kitsap Sun. "While we were gone at treatment, the Kitsap County as a whole, but particularly North Kitsap County, were raising funds so we could continue on with what life looked like and reduce stress."

Both avid readers, Garringer and Bryant were inspired to start a romance bookstore of their own after going to a book signing at another romance bookstore. Adding wine to the mix, Garringer said, was an immediate next step.

They found Verse & Vine's future home in December 2025 and purchased it in February. Built in 1906, the house had previously belonged to a CPA office and had not been renovated since the 1980s.

Bryant and Garringer have turned it into a cozy, living room-like space, and are adding a 700-square-foot addition they are calling the Conservatory. They plan to use it for events, including author talks, movie nights, and paint-and-sip nights, and aim for it to be open by October.

I love anything Chrissy Metz is in, she's a powerhouse actress and a larger person in an industry full of stick-figure women.

TV: Nocturne

Apple TV has revealed a first look at Nocturne, a new series based on the internationally bestselling crime novels Lazarus and The Sandman by Lars Kepler. The 10-episode drama stars and is executive produced by Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz. It will make its global debut October 30 on Apple TV with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through December 25.

The cast also includes Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, Rory Culkin, Chrissy Metz, Poorna Jagannathan, and Gary Carr. Nocturne was written and executive produced by John Hlavin, who also serves as the showrunner. It was created for TV, written, and exec produced by Rowan Joffé.

The project "tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek's last missing victim forces Jonah to send his surrogate daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?" 

 

An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong is a historical/time traveling mystery with a strong thread of romance throughout. I've read a number of books by Armstrong, and she never fails to provide a ripping good yarn in her fiction novels that will keep you up reading into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: Author Kelley Armstrong returns to Victorian Scotland in the latest in the genre-blending Rip Through Time series.

Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Mitchell has grown accustomed to life in Victorian Scotland after traveling 150 years into the past into the body of a housemaid. She’s built a new life for herself. Even though she works as an assistant to forensic-science pioneer Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie, she considers them true friends. And with Gray in particular, perhaps, someday, something more.

Late one night, Gray and Mallory are summoned urgently to the home of Lady Adler, a patron of Gray’s undertaking business, and they assume there's been a death in the household. But instead, they arrive in the midst of a seance with a ghost demanding Gray's presence. The ghost is Lady Adler's former maid, who had gone missing but now requests that Gray investigate her murder. Although Gray and Mallory are skeptical, they agree to look into the matter, whether she's dead or alive. But unsure if there's been a murder or not, unable to call out the medium as a fraud, and concerned for the fate of the young maid, Gray and Mallory are once again drawn into a mystery much more puzzling--and more dangerous--than it first seems. 

Armstrong's prose is at once delicate and fine, while also being commanding and sturdy enough to run the plot along at a clip that keeps reader's eyes glued to the page. Though I'm a fan of Scotland and all things Scottish, even if I had no knowledge of the country or its people and traditions, I could easily fall in love with Victorian Scotland and its people just by reading any book in this "Rip Through Time" series. While Armstrong doesn't info-dump on her readers, she does add a lot of information on the Scottish people and their manner of living during this period (the late 19th century) that I found fascinating. I also love the fact that Dr Gray is a person of color, and that by having Mallory, a female, as his assistant, he is ostracizing himself from polite society even more. I would give this refreshing novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes historical mysteries with a hint of the paranormal.

 

Canon by Paige Lewis is an LGBTQ fiction novel that made no sense at all to me. I am still struggling to understand why this book was even published. There is no point to the narrative, which has zero internal logic, and is jaded and ugly for the most part, with little to recommend readers slogging through over 400 pages. I found it to be the opposite of "brilliant" which is what all the reviewers and blurbists are saying about this confusing and bizarre book. Here's the blurb, which is full of lies, BTW: Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God’s favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel that announces an ingenious new voice in the tradition of Chain-Gang All-Stars, No One Is Talking About This, and Martyr!

Yara can’t comprehend why God has chosen them to slay Dominic, the ruthless leader of the army of Bad Guys. Cast out by their family and reeling from a destructive relationship, Yara has never felt weaker—but with nothing left to lose, they strike a deal. Abandoning their solitary days of embroidery and obsessive cleaning, Yara reluctantly embarks on a perilous odyssey designed to prepare them for the daunting mission ahead.

Meanwhile, Adrena, a disillusioned prophet with a terrifying secret power, is determined to become the hero of this story. Desperately seeking the glory of God’s approval and the promise of heaven, where she hopes to reunite with her beloved mother, Adrena must first persuade Harpo, the leader of the Good Guys, that her plan is God’s will.

As their journeys unfold in a series of unforgettable adventures, Yara and Adrena are propelled toward each other and transformative revelations about life, death, and destiny in this intensely captivating, irreverent epic from a singularly brilliant new voice in fiction.  

First of all, its made clear that Yara is autistic and a lesbian, and Adrena is, at the least, bisexual. While that's fine with me, Yara makes a point of repeating how "filthy" and "dirty" men are, and how she despises them, with the exception of God, who, though he's male, is looked on as the ultimate good guy by the protagonists, though its evident early on that God is a manipulative asshole whose only interest is war and death, and the competition being humiliated. God seems to be an immature teenager out for the "fun" of decimating his opponents, even though he actually has control of both sides of the playing field. The prose is dull, the chapters are very short (1-3 pages) and the plot non-existent. The meaning, or the WHY of it all is never really addressed, and the story itself is so loose as to being nonsensical. It was not profound, or captivating, or brilliant at all. And it turns out it was all for nothing in the end, making, again, God to be an asshole and humanity to be blindly idiotic. I truly loathed this book, and would have stopped reading it, but I kept thinking that it had to get better...I was wrong. It never does. I'd give this mashup of words and nonsense a D-, and I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, ever. 

 

All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett is a "women's fiction" novel that for some bizarre reason was a pick of Reese's Book Club. I found this novel to be stupid and full of points that were obvious, like "rich people are generally unsympathetic assholes"  and "Empathy and kindness and things like a good, loving family are not purchasable." In other words, it takes a whole book for the female protagonist, who grew up poor, to realize the truth of "Money can't buy happiness." Seriously, what an idiot. Here's the blurb: A young American woman navigates class, lies, and love amid London’s jet-set elite.

I would arrive, blank like a sheet of notebook paper, and write myself new.

Anna first fell in love with London at her hometown library—its Jane Austen balls a far cry from her life of food stamps and hand-me-downs. But when she finally arrives after college, the real London is a moldy flat and the same paycheck-to-paycheck grind—that fairy-tale life still out of reach.

Then Anna meets the Wilders, who fly her to Saint-Tropez to tutor their teenage daughter. Swept up by the sphinxlike elder sister, Anna soon finds herself plunged into a heady whirlpool of parties and excess, a place where confidence is a birthright. There she meets two handsome young men—one who wants to whisk her into his world in a chauffeured car, the other who sees through Anna’s struggle to outrun her past. It’s like she’s stepped into the pages of a glittering new novel, but what will it cost her to play the part?

Sparkling with intelligence and insight, All That Life Can Afford peels back the glossy layers of class and privilege, exploring what it means to create a new life for yourself that still honors the one you’ve left behind. 

So our poor Anna gets swept up in the "high life" of money and alcohol/drug abuse and all the fancy clothes and food that she never had growing up...boo hoo. She also discovers, to her surprise (really? I could have told her that rich young people are jerks and will look for any opportunity to humiliate those they think "beneath" them because they can't buy a soul or a conscience), that underneath the glamor and glitz is a bunch of nasty, evil people looking for someone to crush under their heels, but only after they've manipulated and lied to this someone, to make them feel beloved and secure (they want it to really hurt, after all).  Anna, who is, as the Brits would say, "as thick as two planks" (stupid, in other words), somehow thinks that she can re-invent herself as a rich person, even though none of the fancy parties or clothes or money being spent is hers, for the most part. And she wastes what money she does make by trying to impress her new wealthy friends, which is always a losing proposition for the working poor (which she doesn't want to admit that she is...WHY I don't know. There's nothing inherently great about the character of rich young people who have never had to work for anything, and therefore have no values, and little morality). Eventually she sees the light when the wealthy wolves turn on her, and we have the HFN ending of Anna realizing that she's better off being a working person who gets what she pays for herself. Duh. This slowly plotted, overwrought prose of a book doesn't deserve anything higher than a C, and I can't think of anyone to recommend it to.

 

Homebound by Portia Elan is an LGBTQ science fiction novel (in the most basic sense) that doesn't deliver a cohesive story on any level. Here's the blurb: In a dazzling ode to human inventiveness and the desire for meaning, four lives are entangled across time by one unfinished story, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s and destined to ripple across the centuries.

1983. Becks is nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, and the only person who understood her, is dead. Luckily, he left her a half-finished video game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.

2078. Dr. Portman works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics, wrestling with her responsibility to Earth's precarious future. But increasingly, it seems an exceptional project may transcend everything she believed to be possible.

2586. After decades of life on the sea, Yesiko knows a scavenger's work is rife with moral compromise. Yet when a long-lost piece of technology walks aboard her ship, she is set on a path toward a sacrifice even she may be unwilling to make.

Linking these women across the centuries is a chain reaction of love, longing, and creativity that reveals our deep interconnectedness. Clear-eyed and hopeful, Homebound imagines how future generations will find meaning in the things we leave behind. 

Though this story takes place in three different eras, there's little that connects them or the women in each trying to create something lasting. There's also nothing "clear eyed and hopeful" about this book, which I found dull and dreary. The only interesting protagonist is Yesiko, who pilots an old ship through a post-apocalyptic world full of terrors, death and disappointment. Becks was an afterthought of a character, and Dr Portman's character doesn't seem to go anywhere, though she does try. But in the end we're left with an emo robot and a ships captain on a boat to nowhere, with no real resolution to the tale at all. The plot bumps along in fits and starts, and the prose is workmanlike and ordinary. I'd give this uninspiring work a C, and only recommend it to those looking for something dull enough to help them sleep at night.