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.

Haunted Bookstore in Seattle Closes, Mary Oliver Movie, The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee, Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel, The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren, Bingsu For Two by Sujin Witherspoon, and The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan and James Patterson

It's July, and though its pretty hot outside, I'm looking forward to August and the end of summer, which is right around the corner. Everyone around me in my neighborhood and in Seattle are going out and about in swimwear and shorts and t-shirts, soaking up as much sunshine as they can while its blazing hot and bright. Not for me, however, so I've been indoors doing a ton of reading. I've got 5 reviews for you this time, so grab an iced tea or coffee and enjoy!

Though I'm sorry to see them go, its great that this bookstore will adapt by doing pop ups and fairs soon...you can't keep good booksellers down!

Haunted Burrow Books in Seattle, Wash., Closes Storefront

Haunted Burrow Books, which opened in 2025 at 430 15th Ave. E in Seattle, Wash., with a focus on horror, fantasy, science fiction, and occult titles, closed its storefront last month, but will continue doing pop-ups and vendor fairs throughout the city.

In an Instagram post, owner Roxanne Guiney thanked the community for its support and noted: "The brick-and-mortar space was always meant to be a temporary venture for Haunted Burrow, as both an experiment and a chance to run a real bookstore for a little bit before getting back to regular life. Like a bunny, we were here for a good time, not a long time. And it turned out to be a great time. A solidly amazing time.

"Thank you for your support, your kindness, your generosity, your love for reading, your friendship, and all of your book recommendations! We'll be lurking around Seattle's markets and vendor fairs soon, slinging books and chatting about our new favorites. Until then, continue being kind, and enjoy your next read."

I discovered Mary Oliver during my freshman year of college, and though I was snobbish and stupid enough to assume she wouldn't be as great a poet as the classic guys, like Frost, Whitman and Sandburg, the beauty and simplicity of her poems soon set me straight, and made a believer of me. I will look forward to seeing this movie, because, if done respectfully, it should be marvelous and amazing.

Movies: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver's life and career are explored in the new documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, directed by Sasha Waters. Deadline reported that the film has opened at IFC Center in New York City and will debut on July 11 at Laemmle theaters in Los Angeles before expanding to select theaters nationwide.

"She's a poet for people who love poetry, but she's also a poet for people who might think they don't really like poetry or might not really know about poetry or might feel intimidated or bored by poetry," Waters said. "She invites people into the work at every level, and she's not interested in playing with language for the sake of playing with language.... I think she's interested in asking the viewer to share an experience or to reflect on their own experience."

Noting that there is "pressure, I think, to put celebrities in documentaries," Waters observed: "So, for me, it was really important that if we were going to do that, there needed to be a real connection, like why are they in the film? Helena Bonham Carter, there's a TikTok of her reading a Mary Oliver poem. So that's how I found out she was a Mary Oliver fan. Stephen Colbert told a guest on his show that he sent the poem 'The Summer Day' to his children on the first day of summer every year."

The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee is a paranormal romantasy LGBTQ novel that is simply written in the YA style, with a plot that is also easy reading and allows for a ton of vampire tropes and cliches to sneak in on tiny bat wings. Here's the blurb: A vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university—and finds herself falling in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire, in book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy. (Editor's note: WHY do they never use the word LESBIAN to describe sexual relationships between two women? Is the word so off-putting in our society that they have to resort to the ancient word for love between women, via the poet Sapphos?)

This hardcover edition includes a gorgeous illustrated book case beneath the jacket and designed endpapers! “Then her red eyes are on mine, gentle, deadly. . . . She takes her time, kissing my neck. . . . I pull her closer, and I say, Bite me.”

In the mists of the Scottish Highlands is a university where vampires study alongside humans. Rebecca Charity is a vampire hunter undercover at the university, searching for the mysterious Book of Blood and Roses, a lost compendium of ways to kill vampires. If she finds it, she’ll be one step closer to avenging her parents, who were slain by those creatures of the night.

But when Rebecca arrives, she finds something unexpected: a coffin. Her new roommate is Aliz Astra, scion of one of the most powerful vampire families . . . and the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever met. The maddeningly gorgeous Aliz is everything that Rebecca has always hated but also everything she’s ever wanted, and now Rebecca doesn’t know if she wants to kiss or kill her.

When one moonlit night Aliz rescues her from a vampire attack, she accidentally makes Rebecca her Familiar. Now they must work together to break the curse—but as they get closer to solving the mystery, Rebecca and Aliz get closer, too. Can a vampire hunter ever fall in love with a vampire?

 

The prose here is so simplistic and the plot so uneven and easy that I felt very unsatisfied, even before the weird and stupid ending, where the two "sapphic" lovers decide to be lovers forever, even without the compulsion of one of them being an enthralled familiar. Any reader could see that ending coming a mile away, but there are still questions left unanswered. I thought with all the fancy cover and endpaper designs that the story had to at least rise to the level of decent, but what I got was purely mediocre. Unfortunately, I'd give this pathetic Mary Sue tale of vampire cliche addiction (thank you Twilight) a C+ and only recommend it to readers who are obsessed with lesbians and bloodsuckers.

 

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel is a so-called "women's fiction" novel that is really a feminist treatise enrobed in fiction, about the right of women to have the ultimate say-so over their own bodies (and reproductive systems) no matter their age. It's hilarious, brilliant and one of those novels that will stay with you for the rest of your life...particularly as a woman. Here's the blurb: At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn’t choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas―that would be her three grown children―but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love. Then the exhaustion, vomiting, and confusion start. She fears it’s cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: She’s pregnant.

As word gets out, everyone wants a piece of her: the press and paparazzi, activists and medical researchers, belly-rubbers and rubber-neckers all descending on Vista View while Pepper struggles to determine her next move. Soon she has some hard decisions to make―and some she’s not allowed to make.

Enormous Wings is an urgent novel about female agency and bodily autonomy, morality and mortality. It’s about what happens when you don’t get to choose anymore. It’s about motherhood and family, sex and love and friendship, and how those bedrocks―even so late in the day―can still change, and then change everything.

 

The only problem I had with this book was the ending, in that I seriously doubt that Pepper would have the vigor and stamina that it takes to care for a newborn, and I would think she would make arrangements for who is going to care for her child once she dies, probably before the kid hits puberty. I realize that there are women who live to be in their 90s or even 100, but they're not common, and they certainly experience cognitive and physical decline once they hit their 80s. By the time Pepper is 80, her little one will still be a toddler. I had a rough time running after Nick as a 3 year old when I was in my 40s, let alone 4 decades later. I'm 65 now and I could no more manage a baby or a toddler than I could sprout wings and fly. And we're meant to believe that the father is enraptured by his new daughter, but his life expectancy is even lower than Peppers. I get what Laurie is saying throughout the novel, however, that children/babies are, in general, miraculous beings, and that women and girls, should they want to, should be allowed to raise children whenever they feel ready for the responsibility. Pepper is approached by so many weirdos and "pro-life" nutjobs who try to persuade her that she's some kind of saint or angel for being pregnant at an advanced age, and they want her to be their PR spokesperson for all kinds of different agendas. Pepper manages to tell the PR Hacks on both sides to STFU, and quietly helps a young teenager get an abortion outside of Texas and their ridiculous ban on abortion. I felt there was a decent balance of viewpoints in the book, but again, the whole shining light around babies part got to be a bit much, IMO. Still, the prose was amazing and the plot complex but well constructed enough to keep you turning the pages into the wee hours. I'd give this fascinating novel an A, and recommend it to anyone over the age of 50 who has strong opinions, pro and con, about women's reproductive rights.

 

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com that's both semi-sweet and a bit salty. Here's the blurb: Christina Lauren returns with a swoonworthy novel following the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.   

WHY are artists, especially if they're women, called "free spirited," which translates to the kind of infantilized woman who can't make any money, balance a checkbook or survive without a big strong wealthy man at her side? UGH. We're almost to page 100 when we readers finally get a glimpse into the horrible people who comprise West's family, and his abusive father's manipulation of his children, setting them up for toxic competition with one another and using his (the father, Ray's ) wealth and power only for blackmail and manipulation and general evil. Of course West buys Annas art, making way for her to experience a real surge in her career, and then it all blows up when Ray tries to use Anna's impoverished background to force West to take over their toxic billion dollar company. Of course West does the right thing, eventually, and there's a nicely cleaned up HFN ending. Christina Lauren is actually the pen name of two women who write rom-coms together, and for the most part their meticulous prose is a winner, as is their well-crafted plots. I'm not a fan of cliches about women in romantic comedies, however, so for that I'd have to give this novel a B, and recommend it as a beach read for all those writers, artists and creatives who dream of having a very wealthy guy pluck them from obscurity and take care of all their bills/money problems.

 

Bingsu For Two by Sujin Witherspoon is a debut (local author) romance that's surprisingly well written and edited, especially as I believe it was self published. I enjoyed it more that I thought I would, and I stayed up half the night reading "just one more chapter!" Here's the blurb: Meet River Langston-Lee. In the past 24 hours, he’s dumped his girlfriend, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job at his parents’ cafe in spectacularly disastrous fashion—even for him.

Somehow, he manages to talk his way into a gig at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two, which is his lucky break until he meets short, grumpy, and goth Sarang Cho. She’s his new no-BS co-worker who’s as determined to make River’s life hell as she is to save her family’s cafe.

After River accidentally uploads a video of his chaotic co-workers to his popular fandom account, they strike viral fame. The kicker? Their new fans ship River and Sarang big-time. In order to keep the Internet’s attention—and the cafe’s new paying customers—River and Sarang must pretend that the tension between them is definitely of the romantic variety, not the considering the "best way to kill you and hide your body" variety.

But when Bingsu for Two’s newfound success catches the attention of River’s ex and his parents’ cafe around the corner, he faces a choice: keep letting others control his life or stand up for the place that’s become home. And a green-haired girl who’s not as heartless as he originally thought.
 
Bingsu for Two delivers a swoon-worthy romance that'll make you crave a Korean cafe adventure of your own. Fans of young adult romance books and books for teen girls will love this addictive debut that dishes up a serving of humor, heart, and hope.

  

For those who don't live in an area like Seattle, with its heavy Asian population, Bingsu is a Korean shaved ice-with-flavoring (and milk) dessert that is really popular during this time of year, when Seattle's pale folk go outside to enjoy some solar radiation and heat. Asian Goth young gals used to be a dime a dozen in Seattle, when my husband and I moved here in 1991. Now that grunge is a thing of the past, (considered classic nowadays, believe it or not), the number of goth folks has declined considerably. Anyway, though I realize he's young, I found myself disliking River and his wimpy wishy-washy attitude about life, in that he can't seem to land on why he doesn't want to do anything that will mature him emotionally or propel him into the future. Though his parents come off as stereotypical domineering and controlling Asian immigrants who only "want what is best" for their child, it still annoyed me that River never felt that he could just tell them the truth about his hopes and fears for the future, and how much he'd come to hate the corporatization of his parent's formerly cozy family-oriented coffee shop. GROW A SPINE, River! I did like that Sarang gave River lots of crap about his behavior, and though they end up in an enemies to lovers romance, it wasn't too pretty or cutesy, which was a huge relief. All in all, a satisfying read with a bit of a sloppy HFN ending. I'd give it a B+.

 

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan and James Patterson is what is called nowadays "friendship" fiction, which is just another ghettoization of "chick lit." What this really is is a romance novel gussied up to look like something with less "pink" frou-frou, in order to appeal to "serious" readers. LOL. Here's the blurb" “An entertaining book ... As friends talk books, hopes, dreams … and dishy revelations … it’s romantic love—both old and new … that drives  the story forward.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
Between their busy lives and their far-flung residences, the Mother-Daughter Book Club—four longtime college friends and their five daughters—more often discuss the books on their nightstands via 2 a.m. texts than in-person meetings. And maybe it’s just as well, after what happened at their last get-together ...            
 
So it’s an emotional reunion when they finally gather again, this time on the spectacular shores of Italy’s Lake Como. Sightseeing excursions, reminiscing fueled by “Como-politans,” and a hint of vacation romance all build toward the book club’s trademark “Night of Secrets.”            
 
These friends, and sometime rivals, are close readers—of novels, memoirs, and of each other. But as the years and the distance cast shadows and doubt, confidences and sympathies turn into surprising revelations.  

  

Every chapter alternates between characters, to the point that you really need a scorecard to remember who is who and what their deal is. Most are having troubles with their marriages or love lives, which are smoothed out and/or solved completely by the end of the book, like that's even possible or close to reality. Sadly, for those of us who are lifelong readers, there's not a lot of book discussion going on here, so if you're looking for bookish folks and recommendations, look elsewhere. The "secret" revelations are hardly unexpected, having been outlined beforehand, and most of the younger women tended to keep their real secrets close to the vest, as they say. Inevitably one "old maid" character (whom everyone feels sorry for because she's a virgin, which is stupid, because all of their nightmares and problems come from their sex and love lives, which this smart woman has passed by), finally falls in love with a tourist boat captain (because that's so likely, right? Sarcasm) who pops her cherry and they decide to stay together and live HEA. Most of the "mothers" in this book are wreaks, and not very inspirational, and the daughters all seemed to be entitled brats. They made me glad that I had a son, who is not at all pretentious and doesn't expect his mother to approve of his life or his love life. Ugh. I've read a number of James Patterson's thrillers, especially ones co-authored with celebrities or ex-presidents, but this book, with its lazy prose and meandering plot didn't really live up to the Patterson standard. I'd give it a B-, and only recommend it as a "throw away" beach read. 

Ann Patchett Receives Library of Congress American Fiction Prize, 4th of July Bookstore Display at Theodore's Books, A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray, Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee, Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus, and The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N England

Hello fellow book lovers, and welcome to sultry July. This spring and summer have been rough for me, medically, but I've also gotten a lot of reading done, and I'm looking forward to getting through August and on into the beauty and cooler temps of fall in the PNW. I've got a lot of reviewing to do, so sit back and enjoy!

 Though I'm not a fan of her books, I believe Patchett to be a worthy author and bookseller, and I'm glad she received this prize, which was well deserved. Congratulations! 

Ann Patchett to Receive Library of Congress American Fiction Prize

Ann Patchett, bestselling author and owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn., will receive the 2026 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, which honors an American literary writer whose body of work "is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination. The award seeks to recognize strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout long and consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the American experience." Patchett will be honored on August 22 at a ceremony during the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen said Patchett "crafts moving, probing, tender novels. She has a talent for creating fiction that readers continually devour because she thinks deeply and writes evocatively about human connection."

Patchett commented: "The Library of Congress is one of our nation's noblest institutions, and it's full of librarians, who I consider to be the very noblest of people. I am grateful for this award and honored by the association."

Patchett is the author of 10 novels, as well as nonfiction and children's books. She received the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture, and was recently named this year's recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation's Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.

Patchett opened Parnassus Books 15 years ago, and "has since become an advocate for independent booksellers, championing books and bookstores," the Library of Congress wrote. She was the inaugural ambassador for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) and founded the Parnassus Books Foundation, which gives books to children in Title I schools in Nashville.

Books shaped the American dream! 

July Fourth Display: Theodore's Books

Former Congressman Steve Israel shared a photo of the front window of his bookstore, Theodore's Books, Oyster Bay, N.Y., featuring an American flag book display for the holiday weekend. Israel wrote:

"As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we must remember that America's story has always been written by people willing to imagine something better. From the very beginning, they believed in possibility.

For two and a half centuries, the American story has been shaped by presidents and patriots, but most enduringly by teachers, dreamers, dissenters, and readers who believed that ideas have the power to shape history!

At Theodore's Books, we believe that books are one of the greatest expressions of the American experiment. They challenge us and unite us, despite our differences. Each story invites us to see the world--and each other--with greater understanding as we turn the page on to this nation’s next chapter together.

Whether you're spending the holiday with family, friends, or simply a good book, we hope you'll take a moment to celebrate the stories and freedoms that continue to define our country."

 

A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a languidly paced historical fiction novel about two women from different sides of the tracks, so to speak, who end up working together to bring down a very nasty mob kingpin in the 1930s. Here's the blurb: A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious Mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the authors of The Personal Librarian.

Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they’ve all focused on the crime syndicate’s traditional businesses—bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing—or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its role in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can’t get Luciano alone.

Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all.

Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they’re trying to convict. It is this very alliance—of two women from vastly different worlds—that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen. 

While I wouldn't call it "gripping" in the thriller genre sense, this novel did have a momentum that kept me going through the drier, slower parts of the book. Speaking of those parts, there was too much info-dumping as to legal procedure and details about the mobsters business practices that I believe slowed the book down. However, the prose was sterling and made the plot seem smoother than it actually was. I'd give this important historical fiction book a B- and recommend it to anyone interested in black female attorneys of the past and in madams of the "skin trade" during the same era.

 

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee is a YA historical fiction novel about the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, told from the perspective of a smart young Chinese woman. Here's the blurb: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty of Chinatown, San Francisco in 1906, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. Now she’s forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?

 

I loved the fact that Mercy didn't let the grief of losing her mother and brother keep her from organizing a free food kitchen for her fellow survivors, and that she made her way through all the racist/sexist BS of the time to help thousands of displaced people in the Bay area after the quake. She was able to organize her fellow snobbish classmates as well, getting them involved in helping others. I've read one other of Lees novels, which was also compelling, and with the clean and well thought out prose and plot, I'd say she's got a winner here, too. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in the San Fransisco earthquake at the turn of the century. 

 

Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus is a humorous/satirical fiction novel that is a big departure from the much heralded "Lessons in Chemistry" that won her many an award and had a TV movie made from it. Feminists rejoyced at the success of Lessons, and I would bet they will assume that this book follows the same architecture. Fortunately, it doesn't, as its about a poetry publishing house full of crazy characters and drama. Here's the blurb: The bestselling author of global sensation Lessons in Chemistry returns with an irresistible, delightful, and tender story about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck of New York City.

Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seemed to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect, security, 401Ks. Now Batter is in his early twenties, living in New York City, and he wants something different; something that alienates some readers and bores most. Poetry. And yet—to him and exactly thirty-nine editors at a company called Peck & Peck—poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival.

Batter is named after his mother’s heroic dog. An identical twin who lost his brother at birth, he finds himself confronted by the everyday dualities that make up life: right vs. wrong, truth vs. lies, rejection vs. acceptance. It’s almost as if his dead brother is a reminder: there are always two sides to every story.
No, wait. Make that three.

 

Owing to the fact that our protagonist's mother is a type designer, I was able to indulge my squealing inner font nerd throughout the book, while also enjoying the discussions of kerning and serifs, a rare treat. Garmus's prose is delightful, and it helps keep her labyrinthine plot from stalling several times when things turn on a dime. By the end I wasn't sure who I should be rooting for, but I was thrilled the the grasping, evil brother/editor was jailed for his crimes. This is not a book to read quickly, but if you are at all interested in words and their power to change lives, I highly recommend that you grab a copy and stick with it, even through the head-scratching parts. I'd give it an A-, and again, recommend it to word nerds and typeface afficionados.

 

The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N England *(yes, we are assured in the bio section, that really IS her name!) is a lovely cozy LGBTQ romantasy that will endear itself to you on page one. Here's the blurb: Most stories end with a happily ever after. But mine? Well, it begins with one ...
 
After a lonely childhood, Clara Thorne is living out her happy ending as the magically gifted gardener for the town of Moss. Sure, her closest companion is a surly hedgehog, and she’s forever stuck on the first line of her novel, but she has a home. That is, until The Goddess chooses Clara for an important quest—travel to the cursed town of Dwindle and grow them a garden. In less than a month.
 
Only Clara’s hiding a terrible secret: her magic doesn't work outside Moss. Worse, The Goddess has assigned the absurdly sexy, annoyingly cheerful Hesper Altanfall to keep her safe. Clara would rather eat thorns than accept help—especially since Hesper insists that Clara’s magic is bound to her heart, not her home.
 
Nevertheless, the two can't help growing closer as they traverse enchanted woods and share tavern beds. But with an ancient evil threatening from the shadows, saving Dwindle will require more than enchanted crops. Clara will need to unearth a magic she’s always believed impossible.  

 

I loved the "coming of age" aspect of this novel, and  the way that Hesper believes in Clara when she doesn't believe in herself. The prose is delicate and pretty, and the plot breezy yet substantial. All in all, a great beach read for those who love lesbian fantasy romances. I laughed at the people of Dwindle, yet I adored their cheery faith in the face of terrible odds. I also loved the ending, and Clara's Hedgie, who was ancient and magical. I'd give this sweet novel a B+, and recommend it to TJ Klune fans and cozy magic lovers who enjoy slow-burn romances.

 

Pages and Perks Opens in St. Pete, Fla., What's Eating Gilbert Grape on Stage, Bookstore Romance Day is August 15, Obituary for Mark Singer, The Wicked Sea by Jordan Stephanie Gray, We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune, Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth, and The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

It's the end of June, which was a heinously hot month, and we're on to the 4th of July soon, celebrating 250 years of America. I am hoping, however, that July will fly by as fast as June, and August's dog days will also flow by fast, so we can get to my favorite time of year, Autumn, with its cozy vibes, cool temps and beautiful trees (and premiers of shows on streaming services TV). My son is flying up to Canada for vacation during the last two weeks of July, so that will present me with a challenge to navigate that I'm not looking forward to. But regardless, here's to mid-summer and its sunny but swift passing. Reviews below...enjoy!

 

I used to live in St Pete, and there were several great bookstores there. Now another is opening up not too far from where I lived, off 9th and MLK Jr St. For now, though, the bookstore is located in a hotel, the Cordova Inn, which I stayed at once a long time ago. I think a bookstore will be a great addition to the hotel.  

Pages & Perks Launches Pop-Up in Advance of St. Petersburg, Fla., Opening

In advance of its bricks-and-mortar opening in St. Petersburg, Fla., this summer, Pages & Perks Bookstore & More will be inside the Cordova Inn, Patch reported.

Located at 253 2nd Ave. N. in downtown St. Petersburg, the pop-up can be found in the hotel's lobby, next to the coffee shop and bar. Pages & Perks carries a curated selection of general-interest titles for all ages.

"The great part is that people can shop any time there's someone at the front desk of the hotel which is 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. any day of the week," Pages and Perks co-owner Kate Johnson told Patch. "[Cordova owner] Alex Hodges knew we were ready to go and offered up the space in their library as the first permanent home of Pages and Perks."

The bookstore's main location will be a 1,600-square-foot space at 914 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. South. In addition to books, it will serve desserts, mocktails, beer, and wine, and events will be a major part of its offerings. Initially, Kate and Ben Johnson planned to have the bricks-and-mortar open in June, but due to ongoing construction, the opening has been delayed to August.

In the meantime, Pages & Perks will have a presence at the Cordova Inn and will be popping up throughout St. Petersburg at other events and markets. Kate Johnson noted that they hope to stay open in the Cordova Inn even after the main store opens.

My family used to be neighbors to the Hedges family (their father and three boys, that is) during the late 60s and early 70s in West Des Moines, Iowa. My brothers, Phil and Kevin, got into all kinds of trouble with Peter and his brothers.

On Stage: What's Eating Gilbert Grape

MCC Theater in New York City revealed the lineup for its 40th anniversary season, including the world premiere of a musical adaptation

What's Eating Gilbert Grape, featuring a book by Peter Hedges (About a Boy), adapting his own 1991 novel, Playbill reported.

Music and lyrics are from Adrian Enscoe, Christopher Sears, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn. Directed by Obie Award winner and Tony Award nominee Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane), What's Eating Gilbert Grape is produced in association with Matt Ross, Dede Harris, and Linda Rubin. Specific dates for the run at the Newman Mills Theater will be announced eventually.

"It's exciting and energizing to celebrate our 40th year with a season of collaborators both new and old, with works that are filled with heart, wit, bravery, and humor," said co-artistic director Will Cantler. "Peter Hedges is one of our longest collaborators and friends, developing the novel What's Eating Gilbert Grape in a series of chapter readings at MCC in 1989. How fitting to come full circle."

Yay for Bookstore Romance Day! I hope some bookstores near where I live here in SE Washington will have celebrations and book discounts on that day!

Save the Date: Bookstore Romance Day Arrives August 15

The popularity of Bookstore Romance Day, which takes place this year on Saturday, August 15, has grown almost as fast as the romance category itself.

Celebrating romance authors and readers, the event was founded by bookseller Billie Bloebaum. The first Bookstore Romance Day was held in 2019, when some 150 independent bookstores participated. Since then, even during the pandemic, more and more bookstores have kept the date every August, with the numbers of participating stores increasing to nearly 600 last year. Almost 700 have signed up so far this year.

The stores are primarily in the U.S. but include some in other countries, with participants last year in Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The stores have a variety of specialties, and include, of course, many of the fastest-growing type of specialty bookstore: romance bookstores. The rest are general stores that have connected with customers who love romances. And the participants comprise all kinds of stores: bricks-and-mortar, mobile, pop-up, online, and more, all of which celebrate Bookstore Romance Day in many creative, heartfelt ways. Bloebaum noted that a big recent increase in participating retailers is from "mobile, pop-up, and online-only stores, especially among the romance-focused stores."

And this year the focus of the day's celebrations is historical romance. "This isn't on purpose, but simply the way things worked out," Bloebaum said. Besides in-store events, Bookstore Romance Day will include virtual programming that will be set soon. Last year's programming ran the Saturday and Sunday of Bookstore Romance Day, featuring separate panels of authors from Sourcebooks Casablanca & Bloom Books, Bramble, and Harlequin; "Humor Is Magical," in which authors focused on humor in fantasy and paranormal romances; "Love Is Queer," celebrating LBGTQ+ voices in romance; a panel "For the Love of Romance," presented by Steamy Lit and featuring romance authors; and "Toy Story," a discussion of sex toys in romance novels.

I used to read Singer's zingers in Talk of the Town in the New Yorker Magazine. I also read some of his profiles...he was a singular wit who always managed to be funny without being mean, or cynical and rude. He will be missed.

Obituary Note: Mark Singer

Mark Singer, a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine "from the age of 23 who extended the magazine's franchise of rich reporting and witty prose about offbeat, complicated and quintessentially American characters," died June 19, the New York Times reported. He was 75. Singer wrote "urbane 'Talk of the Town' pieces... reflected on serious national matters like the Affordable Care Act, and did a hitch traveling the country as the correspondent for the 'U.S. Journal' column."

He was best known, however, for his profiles of subjects like magician Ricky Jay; a set of four doorman brothers in New York; and "a braggadocious real-estate developer, Donald Trump, years before he ran for office," the Times noted.

Singer's books, many of them collections of pieces from the magazine, include Funny Money (1985); Mr. Personality: Profiles and Talk Pieces (1989); Citizen K: the Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin (1996); Somewhere in America: Under the Radar with Chicken Warriors, Left-Wing Patriots, Angry Nudists, and Others (2004); Character Studies: Encounters with the Curiously Obsessed (2005); The Rise and Fall of Bear Stearns (with Alan C. Greenberg, 2010); and Trump and Me (2016).

"He came out of the tradition of A.J. Liebling and Joseph Mitchell and Calvin Trillin, which is to say he combined meticulous reporting and a very distinctive comic voice, which is extremely rare," said New Yorker editor David Remnick.

"Singer's voice is pitched perfectly to the register of the New Yorker: cool and intelligent, with a wry and artful skepticism uncorrupted by cynicism," Jeff Macgregor wrote in the New York Times Book Review. "Neither aloof nor Olympian, he maintains instead an efficient distance from his subjects. He is a terrific reporter, with a receptive ear for dialogue and a painter's eye for the salient detail."

In 1997, Singer was less than excited when then editor Tina Brown assigned him to profile Donald Trump. "Observing him over several months on construction sites, in his Trump Tower office and on a private plane, Mr. Singer concluded that Mr. Trump, in the period before he became a reality TV star, was a man 'who had aspired to and achieved the ultimate luxury, an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul,' " the Times noted. "That profile," Remnick said, "got everything about Trump 20 years before he ran for president: the vanity, the casual cruelty, the outsized selfishness. It was all there."

"Trump Solo" was included in Singer's Character Studies collection. After a mention of it in the Times review, Trump wrote a letter to the editor attacking Singer, who, in turn, sent a mock thank-you note to Trump for the publicity, along with a check for $37.82 for the Amazon sales boost.

Trump was not amused. The Times noted that he "returned the letter with an all-caps note at the bottom, reading, in part, 'MARK--YOU ARE A TOTAL LOSER.'" Singer later said that Trump did, however, cash the check, a framed photocopy of which the writer displayed in his apartment. In 2016, Singer expanded and updated his essay into the book Trump and Me.

The Wicked Sea by Jordan Stephanie Gray is a gorgeously produced book with iridescent end papers and a colorful embossed cover. Okay, I admit, the beauty of this YA romantasy book seduced me into buying it. I should have read some online reviews first. Here's the blurb: In this dark and sultry romantasy a mermaid battles hatred—and lust—for the wretched warlock who saved her life. This gorgeous deluxe limited edition features: dazzling gilded edges, gorgeous endpaper art and deluxe effects on the jacket.

Mermaid Zephyra of the Syl dreams of freedom. On the run from a dangerous captor and years of abuse, she’s shed her tail, grown legs, and hidden herself on land in the merrow-loathing kingdom of Mortia, left to steal and barter on the dirty streets. But her freedom is short-lived when she’s caught and sentenced to death by the brutal warlock, Arion Stone. 

Arion is as beautiful as he is cold and deadly, only interested in punishing the merrow he views as evil. He has grown as strong as any warlock might, but at great personal cost ... which can only be remedied by the heart of the God of Death, lost to a fabled kingdom beneath the ocean’s treacherous depths. 

So Arion offers Zephyra a deal she can’t refuse; help him find the mystical heart, and he’ll spare her life. With no other options, Zephyra agrees, entangling their souls and forbidden desires in a magical bargain until death do they part. But Zephyra's past is catching up to her, and the enemy she fled seeks vengeance. If Zephyra and Arion can't learn to fight together—and trust each other—there are worse things awaiting them than just death. Of course, in the wicked sea, everyone has secrets, and no one should be trusted.  

 

Ah, if only this book lived up to the beauty of the actual product, end papers and all...sadly, it devolves quickly into torture porn, with page after page delineating how the two protagonists were held captive or trained by the most vicious and bloody, painful torture, and how, eventually, (of course! Misogyny reigns in these kind of "dark" romantasy books) the female main character comes to like pain and suffering and finds it "sexy" so that when she and the tortured main male lead character have sex, she wants him to hurt her as a turn on...BLECH. 

There was nothing remotely beautiful about the story contained in this book, it was all gore, pain, death and grief. So depressing, in fact that I nearly DNF'd it. The prose was overbearing and the plot sluggish and predictable. I'd give this lackluster book a C, and only recommend it to horror fans who like their romance rough and savage. DO NOT be taken in by the pretty cover!

 

We Burned so Bright by TJ Klune is an apocalyptic LGBTQ fantasy novel that is sad but profound at the same time. Here's the blurb: A heart-wrenching standalone novel by author TJ Klune, We Burned So Bright follows an elder gay couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip.

The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky.
Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A rogue black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.

Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how―impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends.

And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.
Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes? 

 

Though its poignant and sad, Klunes sterling prose and concise, elegant plot will keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. It's not a long book, comprising only 163 pages, but the story is huge, tackling the big questions of "why are we here?" And "What would you do if you only had a few weeks left to live?" Don and Rodney have lived amazing lives together, but even when they think they've failed in raising a schizophrenic orphan, they commit to taking his ashes (he died of a drug overdose), to all the places that he enjoyed going to when he was a kid with Don and Rod. The last place they need to spread some of his ashes is at a Forest station in Washington, so they barely make it there before the world explodes, but they do get it done. I dare you not to get misty-eyed at the end of this book. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who liked The House on the Cerulean Sea.

 

Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth is an action/adventure romantasy with way too much savagery and pain to consider it an actual romantasy. For me, if the romance is constantly blunted by pain and suffering, its not romantic, it's horrific. Here's the blurb: An epic, romantic dystopian fantasy begins in Seek the Traitor's Son, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth

Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her.

She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts. (Editors note: the other half DIE in AGONY).

But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy–her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other…but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with.

In just one day, Elegy’s old life–her job, her purpose, and her future–is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.

Elegy intends to make sure it’s her. 

Sadly, both women fall in love with Theren, but he only loves Elegy, though Rava isn't the kind of woman to take NO for an answer. The prose wasn't up to Roth's usual high standards, and the plot became dull and plodding halfway through the book. The ending was a mess, neither HEA nor HFN, and I was disappointed at the treachery and cruelty that seemed to become more of a plot point the longer the story dragged on. I'd give this book a B-, and only recommend it to anyone who likes depressing worlds and lackluster characters.

 

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer is a fantasy adventure novel that was not quite as bookish as it claimed to be. Here's the blurb: Come along with the Book Witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from author Meg Shaffer.

Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.

Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets. 

 

This novel got really "Meta" about halfway through, and then it broke the 4th wall and became Meta-Meta, and by the end it was just really confusing as to what was reality and what wasn't. I was enjoying the "Thursday Next" aspect of the book, with Rainy jumping in and out of fiction to save it from not existing, when it was revealed that Rainy was/is a character in a book herself. And then it was posed to the reader of the Book Witch that Rainy was informed that someone was reading her story right now! She is surprised, but not too taken aback by all of this, and just goes on to fulfill her mission and be a good protagonist. By the end the reader isn't sure what is going on, whether the story is ending or not. Its very confusing and not at all what I signed up for when purchasing this novel. Regardless, it was an interesting, if bizarre read, and I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone who wonders what would happen if they could become a character in their favorite stories.

 

Obituary for Jane Yolen, Women's Fiction Prize For The Correspondent, Lady Macbeth Movie, Final Draft by Elizabeth Spann Craig, The Guncle by Steven Rowley, The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco, The Ink that Bleeds by Piper J Drake, and Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Ah, summer...I'm excited for July and August, which are right around the corner, because they're the final months of summer, and I'm an Autumn loving person. So here's to cooler temps and crisp fall days ahead where you can snuggle beneath a blanket with a hot cup of tea and a good book! 

I met Jane Yolen back in 1993 or 4, before I was married and had my son, and she was a delightfully sharp curmudgeon of an author whose first words to the group meeting her were: "Don't gush over me...I hate groupie behavior." So when I tried to tell her how much I admired her writing and in particular Briar Rose, which was so gorgeous it made me cry, she said "What did I say about gushing?! No crying, either!" She hated what she called "simps" or simpering, sycophantic people. Still, she tolerated us all, and gave a brilliant talk on finding inspiration in the everyday. She will be missed.  (BTW, I read Owl Moon to my son about a million times when he was a toddler, and I cried every time.)

Obituary Note: Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen, who published 450 books "in practically every conceivable genre," died last Thursday at age 87, the New York Times reported, writing that Yolen "never encountered a genre she didn't like; among her early books was a history of kites. Yet running through almost all her writing was a strong through-line of deep psychological insight and a sense of wonder.

Many of her works were fables and folklore, whether retellings of old stories or her own, original tales."She was inspired by the Eastern European Jewish folk stories she heard as a child--her father was born in present-day Ukraine--and by the writers she fell in love with as a teenager, like Robert Louis Stevenson and Joseph Conrad."

Yolen wrote children's books, folklore, fantasy, and science fiction books, and was best known for Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr, which won the Caldecott Medal; The Devil's Arithmetic, about a Jewish girl who travels in time to the Holocaust in Poland in 1942; two Nebula Award-winning novellas, "Sister Emily's Lightship" and "Lost Girls"; The Emperor and the Kite, illustrated by Ed Young, which was a Caldecott Medal Honor Book; and two series, the Commander Toad and Pit Dragon Chronicles. She published her first book, Pirates in Petticoats, at age 22. Yolen also wrote books with her three children, writer and musician Adam Stemple, children's book author Heidi Stemple, and photographer Jason Stemple.

Among her many awards and honors, Yolen was given a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2009.

Yolen was also a university professor, songwriter, and editor. In the 1960s, she worked at Gold Medal Books, Routledge, and Knopf. From 1990 to 1996, she had a YA imprint, Jane Yolen Books, at Harcourt Brace. Her 450th, Terror Birds, will be published July 14 by Charlesbridge Moves. The title is illustrated by Celia Lowenthal and is book 2 in the Monsters of Fife series.

I adored this novel, and I am thrilled that its winning awards and getting a lot of good ink via reviews and such. I can only hope that Evans will grace us again with more of her epistolary brilliance.

Women's Prize for Fiction Goes to The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The £30,000 (about $40,225) Women's Prize for Fiction was won by Virginia Evans for The Correspondent (Crown). Julia Gillard, chair of judges for the fiction award, described the book as "a remarkable novel, with an exemplary combination of originality, excellence and accessibility. It is no mean feat to write a life in letters, but Evans makes this feel effortless, asking the reader to consider the choices we make, whilst elevating an ordinary life in the most heartfelt of ways. The sheer skill required to render an emotionally resonant and engaging work in this format is spectacular. This is a novel that captured our hearts, and should be read and savored by all." (Editor's note: AMEN to that! This was the best book I've read this year!)

The Scottish Play from the Women's POV! Yes, please! I can hardly wait for this movie to debut. Before it does I will hopefully find a copy of the book.

Movies: Lady Macbeth

Production companies Curious Gremlin (The Testament of Ann Lee) and Kari Skogland's new banner Take a Trip Media are developing a film adaptation of Ava Reid's 2024 bestselling novel, Lady Macbeth.

Deadline reported that the screenplay for "the gothic feminist retelling of Shakespeare's play" will be written by Emma Donoghue (Room), with Emmy and BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Skogland (The Handmaid's Tale) set to direct.

"At Curious Gremlin, we have always aimed to share our excitement for telling fresh, bold, and daring stories that trust their audience to embrace new perspectives and sit with complexity," said co-founder Sinan Eczacibasi. "In that spirit, Ava Reid's Lady Macbeth--a ferocious reimagining of the timeless Scottish Play from a fresh and surprisingly overlooked lens--adapted for the big screen by Emma Donoghue, with Kari Skogland in the director's seat, feels like a natural fit for us. We are delighted to be partnering with Take a Trip on this wonderful film and look forward to sharing it with the world."

Final Draft by Elizabeth Spann Craig is a cozy Librarian mystery that was not only short and sweet, it was a great palate-cleanser for some other, heavier novels I've yet to tackle on my TBR. I've read one other book by this author, despite the old saying of "never read a novel whose author name is longer and more prominent than the title." LOL. Here's the blurb: 

Every story has a final draft. This one is murder.

Ann Beckett is finally settling into married life. The cottage renovation is complete, Fitz has claimed his sunroom, and quiet evenings with Grayson have become her favorite part of the day. After the chaos of wedding planning—and murder—she's ready for something resembling normal.

 

But normal doesn't last long in Whitby.

 

When an out-of-town dealer is found dead inside the local typewriter repair shop, Ann is pulled into another investigation. The victim wasn't well-liked—he'd made enemies among collectors, rattled old acquaintances, and been asking questions that made people uncomfortable. Someone in Whitby wanted him gone, and Ann suspects the reason lies buried in the past.

As she digs deeper, Ann discovers that small towns have long memories—and some secrets are worth killing to protect. With Grayson's support and the library community beside her, she'll need to separate old grudges from deadly intent before the killer strikes again.

The prose employed by Craig is clean and easy, and the plot percolates along like a well oiled machine. I was particularly fond of Fitz the kitty, and wished for more scenes with him making his mark on the investigation. But all in all, a nice short (under 300 pages) work that I'd give a B+ and recommend to anyone seeking a light read for the beach or just for the summer.

 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley is a delightful LGBTQ humorous family fiction novel that will give you all the feels. This book has won so many awards, that were I to list them it would take up the rest of the blog space. But it deserves some accolades, as its rare to find a book with a gay male protagonist who is both snarky and sweet, in a story that is heartwarming in the best way. Here's the blurb: From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor comes a warm and deeply funny novel about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer.

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes, Patrick's eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.

With the humor and heart we've come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times. 

While I adored GUP, I really hated his siblings, especially Greg, the selfish and idiotic drug/alcohol addict who has to go to rehab because, as his wife is dead, he's the only parent left to raise his two children. So instead of taking on that responsibility, he checks himself into rehab and leaves his children with his gay brother Patrick, and makes sure he knows that there's no alternative, though both Greg and Patrick know that their sister Clara would be glad to take on her niece and nephew for the summer. But Clara is one of those tight-arsed Republican Karens who make everyone around them as miserable, so GUP allows himself to be manipulated into taking the kids (who are both kind of jerks). Though I felt the kids needed a lot more boundaries and discipline, I was Glad that they both learned to love their free-wheeling GUP, and had fun learning the LA lifestyle from him. I felt that GUP treated the kids as smarter versions of lap dogs, fully indulging them when he shouldn't, but I also liked that he seemed to grow more compassionate as the summer wore on (and more responsible, thank heaven). The ending, which was HFN, could have used more work, as it was disjointed and not satisfying at all. Hence, I'd give this book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys oddball LA/Hollywood sagas.

 

The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco is a YA early 20th century family fiction novel that was promoted as middle-grade fiction, when, like the Harry Potter series, it is actually a well told tale that should appeal to teenagers and adults alike. Here's the blurb: Hurricane is quiet while her Aunt Claire is a force of nature with very particular ideas--and a host of Latin sayings to back them up. When Hurricane gets stuck living with her, she retreats into herself...until a series of unexpected friends, including a mangy cat, help her find her voice in a whole new way.
A recipe for The World’s Most Comforting, Twelve-Layer Honeycake: 1 quiet girl named Hurricane, who runs like the wind along the Mighty Atlantic with her old dog Brody-Bear.

1 imperious aunt, who steps up when Hurricane’s world turns upside down.
1 kind-hearted boy, who helps wounded animals (and may smell a little of fish) 1 lonely and flea-bitten cat with a ragged ear and a crooked tail.

1 gentle chauffeur, who knows exactly what to say…and when not to say a thing.Mix them all together in big, fancy house in the city. What you get might surprise you. 

Hurricane is what would be called nowadays "on the spectrum" of autism/neurodivergent. She's smart but doesn't understand most other kids, or society's rules and regulations. BTW, I kept hearing Alanis Morrisette's "One Hand in My Pocket" while I was reading this book, and I think it fits the general theme of the work. I could identify with Hurricane's love of rescuing animals, her need for time to be alone and roam free, and her need for adult understanding, kindness and steadfast empathy. I felt that same kind of loneliness and need for understanding and compassion many times as a child and a teenager. I had an aunt, whom I didn't see often enough (RIP Aunt Barb) who was like Mr Keats, in that she never talked down to me or treated me with anything but kindness...my mother used to sneer at her "laziness" for not wanting to clean and cook like the other women in the family, and gossip cruelly about everyone they knew, but instead spent her after-supper time with her bookish niece, (Me) discussing science fiction and fantasy books, being harassed (by men/boys) as a young or older woman, being a person of size (plus sized) in a world full of diet scams, etc. I felt SEEN by her, and she always left me feeling better about myself and my life, which was quite hard at times. Still, Hurricane was a bit of a snot, and I wish that someone had been able to give her more boundaries and guidelines to help her navigate the world outside. Well written and full of interesting characters and a swift plot, this book deserves an A, and I'd recommend it to anyone who was an "oddball" kid.

 

The Ink That Bleeds by Piper J. Drake is the first in the Mystic Bookstore series. Though its self-published, I found this Pacific Northwest paranormal romantic mystery to be a lot of fun and full of fascinating locales and characters. Here's the blurb: The Mystic Bookstore is keeping a secret. In fact, the whole town is.

Amihan Chanthara is ready for a new beginning when she arrives in the little harbor town of Wolfsound, Washington, nestled in the San Juan Islands. Settling in as the new owner of the town bookstore is easy. Figuring out who killed the bookstore’s previous owner is not.

The town sheriff has asked the sexy, ill-tempered werewolf, Lucien Allard, to help investigate and Ami is torn between heady attraction and irritation as the bookstore continues to be the center of the murder investigation.

Is the killer human or supernatural? Why was the previous bookstore owner murdered? Is Ami next?
Every new friend could be the murderer and even the one theoretical witness can’t tell anyone what happened. Will Ami survive long enough to learn what it means to be chosen by the mystic bookstore as its new Scribe?

 

Drake's  prose is excellent, concise and lyrical, while keeping the rapid-fire plot moving along like a bullet train. I liked the "magic" bookstore, which was a character unto itself, and the werewolf sheriff, as well as Taffy the immortal bookstore Corgi, who kept everyone in line. The book is only 165 pages, yet it felt like the author took us on a full adventure, leaving readers with a very satisfying ending that was heartfelt and made sense of all that had gone before. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys enchanting books set in the PNW.

 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi is a (somewhat) Christian literary fiction novel that surprised me with its poignancy and wisdom-filled chapters that became more addictive the longer you read them. Here's the blurb: One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn’t explain much about where he came from or why he’s there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person’s story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

 

Though they don't make it too overt, there is more than a little Christian proselytizing in the later chapters, and while it's mild and gentle, it still might be a bit uncomfortable for those who are atheists or from other faiths who read this book. I did find it interesting that this novel was written by a judge/attorney who also claims to be a singer/songwriter (and now, of course, novelist/writer).What an unusual combination of careers. I wasn't really expecting to like this book as much as I did, considering all the good ink and hype that it has gotten, but it turns out this page-turner had plenty of relevance and beauty to bring to the table, and contained stunning prose that moved along the elegantly rendered plot like sugar dissolving in a glass of lemonade. This profound novel is at once a tribute to art and to life, told by an elderly male protagonist whose charming old world ways change everyone around him. It reminded me a little of reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull when I was a teenager, and discovered that books could change you at a soul-deep level, like all great art. Theo of Golden deserves an A, and a recommendation to anyone interested in the intersection of life, art, and the soul.