Barack Obama's Podcast Debuts in September, Jane Eyre Comes to TV, Quote of the Day, Obituary for John Crowley, People of the Book Movie, The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin, Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy, Better Hate Than Never by Chloe Liese, and A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber

Welcome to the second to last week of August! I've been struggling with my health issues, but in the next three weeks I have a bunch of procedures, doctor appointments and even, finally, an MRI happening, so hopefully I will get some answers and have a path forward to get out of pain and on the road to recovery. 

  

Meanwhile, here's some great tidbits, including a podcast by one of the greatest presidents we've ever had in America, a strong and intelligent and kind man who should, IMO, still be at the helm of this country.

A Great Book with Barack Obama Podcast Debuting in September

Higher Ground, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's media company, has teamed with Audible to launch A Great Book with Barack Obama, a new original podcast hosted by the former U.S. president, who sits down with six luminaries to discuss the books that have profoundly shaped his worldview and our society. The six-episode series debuts on Audible September 24. Guests will be announced at a later date.

The book selections include The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin; Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison; All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren; and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré.

"Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe," said Obama. "The six books featured in this series have stayed with me throughout my life, and each one has something to teach us about the human experience. For this podcast, I invited some friends to explore why they resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever. I hope listeners will be inspired to discover or rediscover books that change the way they see themselves and the world."

Dan Fierman, head of audio at Higher Ground, commented: "President Obama has always been a champion of reading, and this series captures his genuine passion for literature in a way that is personal and accessible.

These authentic conversations explore how books can challenge us, comfort us, and change us. The chemistry between President Obama and each guest creates truly special moments that remind us why storytelling matters. We're proud to collaborate with Audible on a project that honors both the intimacy of audio and the power of great books."

I'm excited that there will be a new version of Jane Eyre coming up on the BBC. The fact that this novel continues to fascinate people nearly two centuries after publication is a testament to a great writer, Charlotte Bronte.

TV: Jane Eyre

BBC has joined Working Title's new TV adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel Jane Eyre, starring Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus, Sex Education) in the title role. The series is being written by Miriam Battye (Succession). BBC will develop the project and become its broadcaster-financier.

The novel has inspired several film and TV adaptations, most recently a BBC TV series in 2006 starring Ruth Wilson. Prior to that, Mia Wasikowska had the lead role Cary Fukanaga's 2011 adaptation (for BBC Films), and Charlotte Gainsbourg played Jane for Franco Zeffirelli in 1996. Next year will mark the 180th anniversary of the novel's first publication.

Quotation of the Day

"I want every single person to know that they have a space there and that they belong there, and I feel grateful to be able to be in a position where I can do all of this because of the generosity of the community. I truly feel like when you support your community, your community supports you.... I know I have to make a living to be able to support myself and to keep the store going, but I truly am about the community. As long as I have a place to sleep, food to eat, and the store's lights are on, I'm doing great.

"I've lived here my whole life, but I've never met more amazing people than I have through having the bookstore. I've made so many friends and amazing connections in the community, because readers are truly some of the best people--people that just want to learn and expand their knowledge or just escape the world that we currently live in."--Nicole Barnett, owner of Rubber Rose Books & Print

I remember reading Little Big years ago, when I was a preteen, and being fascinated by it. Crowley was an amazing author. RIP. BTW, I miss magazines about SF and fantasy and weird subjects, like Locus and Omni. 

Obituary Note: John Crowley

John Crowley, an author of "sweeping fantastical narratives whose ability to blend such disparate material as American history, dreams of lost utopias and Alice in Wonderland-tinged occult allowed him to transcend the fantasy genre in novels like Little, Big," died August 8, the New York Times reported. He was 83.

Crowley's 14 novels and 10 volumes of essays and short fiction "explored a considerable range of subjects and genres," the Times noted. His first novel, The Deep (1975), "was set on a disc-shaped world and involved a war between two factions, the Reds and the Blacks, loosely based on the 15th-century War of the Roses in England.... Even his most straightforward, realistic novel, Four Freedoms (2009), about the workers at an airplane factory in Oklahoma during World War II, is an alternative history of the home front."

His fourth novel, Little, Big, was his best known work. Poet James Merrill, a fan of the novel, arranged for Crowley to receive a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, which Merrill directed. Ursula K. Le Guin said that the book "calls for a redefinition of fantasy," while Harold Bloom observed that it was "literally the most enchanting 20th-century book I know." It was named the best novel at the 1982 World Fantasy Awards.

In 2009, Crowley told the Believer magazine: "The kind of fiction that always interested me is stuff that somehow manages to be convincingly actual--in the sense that you believe that truths are being told about the world you live in--and are also somehow connected to the imaginary in some way."

He told Locus magazine in 2010: "To actually articulate a way of being in a literary world without boundaries between reality and fantasy--it can't just be a bunch of craziness and surreal carrying on.... Fantasy fiction at bottom, or at its best, is about making true fictions by the rules, in worlds you make up out of whole cloth, or out of your heart."

People of the Book was a great read, as are all of Brooks books. I can hardly wait for this movie to debut, to see how they handle the subject matter.

Movies: People of the Book

Bleiberg Entertainment will be selling worldwide rights at the Toronto International Film Festival market to People of the Book, based on the historical novel by Geraldine Brooks. Deadline reported that the project, directed by Michael Haussman (Edge of the World), recently wrapped filming in the Valencia region of Spain, including at Ciudad de la Luz in Alicante, and in Trieste and Venice in Italy.

People of the Book "tracks the creation and survival of a sacred religious artifact across 500 years, weaving back and forth between a series of interconnected chapters that span across several centuries and countries including pre and post inquisition Spain, 17th century Venice, Nazi-occupied Bosnia and a contemporary narrative focusing on an Iraqi refugee family's harrowing escape journey from ISIS-held Mosul to safety in Europe."

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin is a YA historical fiction/mystery/adventure tale that will have you turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…

Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister, Lizzie, share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amid one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.

The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother's disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues that unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept? 

 The beautiful prose collaboration in this novel creates a sublime palate for the swift and riveting plot, which will bring you to the end of the tale before you know it. I found myself wishing for more chapters of the life and times of Jakob and Lizzie, two determined teen siblings who refuse to give up on their mum, who is reported as KIA, and to give up on England during her darkest hour (the Blitz). Though its pigeon holed as children's lit, this is one of those books that should be read and enjoyed by people of any age and reading level. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in code breaking and what it was like to grow up in England during WWII.

Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy is a delightful midlife rom-com that, like Murphy's other novels (I've read and loved them all) has a plus sized protagonist who is gorgeous and fierce and hilarious. Here's the blurb:  

From author Julie Murphy comes a heartfelt and hilarious tale of a woman who thinks life and love have passed her by until she’s thrown into her grandmother’s quirky world of octogenarian free love and gets a second chance with the one man she never expected to see again. Perhaps it’s never too late to play the opening credits.

Welcome to Starlight Palms, a favorite retirement facility among Hollywood actors and industry professionals tucked away just outside of sunny Palm Springs. Filled with forgotten scream queens, eccentric screenwriters, and heartthrobs of the past, it has a brand-new resident: Vera Stein, age forty.

Vera knows she’s missed her chance at a life worthy of the silver screen, just like she missed her chance at ever finding true love. But Vera isn’t one to take chances. She’s spent most of her adult years caretaking for her dying mother and her movie star boss’s ego. Now abruptly houseless and jobless, Vera has nowhere to land, so to grandmother’s house we go!

The Starlight Palms Senior Living Center is midcentury Hollywood down to its pastel-painted bones. This desert gem isn’t lacking in saucy plot twists (swinging seniors, anyone?) or a leading man: Elias Buckley, the on-site doctor and Vera’s former ill-fated college fling and—for reasons that will stay in Vegas—legally her ex-husband according to the state of Nevada.

It’s not long before Vera falls into a job as the activities coordinator and under the spell of a certain smart-mouthed doctor… Suddenly all those empty years in LA look less like mistakes and a lot more like backstory. With a fresh start at her fingertips, Vera begins to see that even with all the detours she’s taken, there’s still a Hollywood ending (and maybe even a happily ever after) in sight.

Like a delicious midnight snack, this excellent novel goes down a treat, a satisfying page-turner that will have you laughing and crying and cheering for Vera's HEA before you are more than halfway through the book.  Though Vera's grandmother is annoying and narcissistic, I believed that Vera handled their relationship with deftness and empathy, when many would have slammed Ruby and left for less difficult climes. I found Eli to be a tough nut to crack, but when he and Vera finally reconnected, steamy and spicy scenes were the results. I appreciate the fact that Murphy never forces her heroines to lose weight or hide themselves in sexual situations, but makes the more realistic choice of having their partners thrill over every dimple and roll of chub. It's inspirational, and I wish Murphy's books had been around 40 years ago or so when I needed to feel like their was hope for plus sized women like me to find someone to love and treasure us just as we are. I'd give this splendid book an A, and recommend it to any woman who believes she is past her "sell by" date for romance.

 

Better Hate Than Never by Chloe Liese is a contemporary romance based on Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," which is long overdue for another adaptation (The first I remember seeing was the wonderful movie 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger). Here's the blurb: Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won’t even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.

Despite their friends’ and families' pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she’s only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn’t sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.

When Christopher’s persistence and Kate’s curiosity lead to an impassioned kiss, they realize “peace” is the last thing that will ever be possible between them. As desire gives way to deeper feelings, Kate and Christopher must decide if it’s truly better to hate than to never risk their hearts—or if they already gave them away long ago.

 

It's rare to find a book with good, steamy hate sex scenes, which this volume has in abundance. But what I enjoyed most about it was the semi-Shakespearean banter between Kate and Christopher, and their willingness to not give up on love and eventually to bare their hearts and souls to one another.Vulnerability is one of the hardest things about establishing a relationship, and Liese doesn't shy away from the tough scenes and soul-searing parts that both protagonists must play to get to a place of peace and understanding. As I mentioned, the prose is well-wrought and the plot vigorous, so the book flies by, when one would think it could get bogged down in hewing to Shakespeare's twists and turns and troubles. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers romances with a side of Shakespearean drama.

 

A Tarnished Canvas by Anna Lee Huber is the 13th Lady Darby historical mystery, and though I've read them all, Huber continues to surprise me with the convoluted problems that her heroine Kiera gets herself and her husband Sebastian Gage, into as they solve another gristly mystery. Here's the blurb: Lady Kiera Darby had planned to spend the winter practicing her painting, but instead, she must find the flaw in a killer’s masterpiece when an art auction results in one participant’s final bid.

March 1833. Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have decided to settle in Edinburgh for the winter with their infant daughter. This also allows Kiera to enjoy long hours painting in her studio, making progress on the portraits she soon hopes to unveil in her own exhibit. She’s thrilled when she receives an invitation to the auction of the late Lord Eldin’s coveted art collection, and she and Gage eagerly accept. When the floor collapses beneath the gathering, killing one of their fellow bidders, Kiera and Gage are lucky to escape with their lives.

Within days it becomes apparent that what at first seemed to be a terrible accident is actually something far more nefarious. Someone deliberately compromised the integrity of the structure, though the police are unsure of the culprit’s aim. Sergeant Maclean requests Kiera and Gage’s assistance in figuring out who would wish to harm the bidders. As they dig deeper, it becomes increasingly apparent that the victim was not the killer’s intended target . . . and that Kiera was lured to the auction deliberately. Kiera and Gage must utilize all their resources to unveil a monster willing to risk the lives of dozens of bystanders to achieve their ends. But they’re on the verge of making a dire miscalculation. For one of the cleverest tricks in a painter’s repertoire is the art of misdirection, and their eyes have been drawn far from the gravest danger. 

 

What is fascinating about this volume in the series is that although Kiera and Gage have a child, they still do not hesitate to put themselves squarely in the face of danger, regardless of the chances that they will die in pursuit of the truth, leaving their daughter an orphan. Still, Kiera manages to continue painting portraits of "regular" people and the poor, because she feels that her commissioned work, portraits of the rich and famous of the time, leads to a blinkered and diminished POV that keeps the "classes" apart with distrust and prejudice. Leaving her mark in such an unusual fashion only endears the character of Kiera to readers who, for the most part, will never know the kind of life lived by the aristocracy. Even Kiera, with her nanny and servants, is something that few in todays world could ever aspire to or understand. I'd give this 13th volume a B+, and recommend it to anyone who has read the other dozen books in this inviting series.

 

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.