Ada's Technical Books in Seattle to Close, Virginia Woolf's Night and Day Movie, Muriel Spark Biography Book Review, Paranormal Payback by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughs, Paranormal Nonsense by Steve Higgs,The Librarian of the Haunted Library by Brian Yansky, and The House of Dreams by Kate Lord Brown

Welcome to "almost May" my friends and bibliophiles. It's been a rough and weird April, both for me physically as I struggle with Crohns disease and asthma, and dealing with the death of my beloved mother a month ago. The weather has been ridiculous as well, with temps up to 70 during the day, dropping down to a chilly 40-50 degrees at night. So you're either freezing or sweating. Since I'd rather hunker down under some warm blankets than sweat, I've been reading in bed while dealing with pain and insurance companies. Here are some tidbits and some reviews. 

 I remember visiting Ada's back in the early 90s, and finding that it was a warm and welcoming place. I'm so sad that its closing down. Just another victim of the horrible economy right now. RIP Ada's.

Ada's Technical Books in Seattle, Wash., to Close

Ada's Technical Books in Seattle, Wash., will close on June 6 after 16 years in business, and its three Fuel Coffee locations have been put up for sale. In a message to customers, owner Danielle Hulton wrote that the decision is a personal one: "I am currently in a season of life where I need to prioritize spending more time with my family and pursuing new career goals. After many months of trying to transition Ada's to new ownership, it has become clear that closing is the most viable path forward. While this wasn't my initial plan, I recognize that Ada's was a very specific dream of mine; it feels right to make room for something entirely new in this space."

Noting that Ada's hopes "to go out on a high note and celebrate this community," Hulton shared information about upcoming changes, deadlines, sales, and events, as well as Independent Bookstore Day on April 25.

"I feel incredibly privileged to have done this work for the past 16 years," she added. "Ada's started as a dream of something that 'should' exist in Seattle, and I am so proud to have created a technical space that is both beautiful and welcoming to all. The team I've worked with over the years has been remarkably talented, and you, our customers, have been curious, dedicated, and supportive. This chapter of my life is one I will always look back on with immense fondness.

Hulton told the Capitol Hill Seattle blog that the decision to shutter Ada's and sell off the Fuel Coffee locations is "not a statement of how things are going right now on 15th [Ave. E]." Danielle and David Hulton, who purchased the former home of Horizon Books and redeveloped it to house Ada's, still own the property, Capitol Hill Seattle noted, adding that while the three Fuel locations they lease are for sale, the 15th Ave. E co-working space will continue to operate.

I would love to see this movie, having been a lifelong fan of Woolf and her immaculate prose. 

Movies: Virginia Woolf's Night & Day

Tina Gharavi's Virginia Woolf's Night and Day will have its world premiere at SXSW London in June as the opening film. Deadline reported that the project is adapted by Gharavi, with screenwriter Justine Waddell, from Woolf's 1919 novel "revolving around the life of Katharine Hilbery, a high-born young woman who challenges the patriarchal society of the time to pursue her love of astronomy and life on her own terms."  Haley Bennett stars as Hilbery, joining a cast that includes Jack Whitehall, Jennifer Saunders, Lily Allen, Sally Phillips, and Misia Butler.

I remember discovering the prose and poetry of the wonderful Muriel Spark back in the 80s, and being amazed that it had taken me so long to find her. I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and then watched what was, at the time, the highly salacious movie with Maggie Smith and being smitten by the story and Smith anew ("Little Gurruls!") It was a view into feminism of a straightforward and tough kind I'd never seen before. I will have to keep my eye out for a copy of this book about her life.

Book Review: Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark

"I was never really in the world," the great Scottish author Muriel Spark told an interviewer late in her long life. That would explain her ability to squirrel herself away and write 22 novels, some of them among the finest of her time, as well as poetry, plays, and short stories. Her colorful life has been catnip for biographers since Spark, a lifelong cat lover, died at 88 in 2006. One such biography is Like a Cat Loves a Bird by the English critic James Bailey, author of the scholarly analysis Muriel Spark's Early Fiction. With this volume, he widens the aperture for a reverent and engrossing look at Spark's peripatetic life.

Bailey became obsessed with Spark, "perhaps modern literature's finest shapeshifter," when he read her most famous work, 1961's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Once he finished the rest of her output, he was struck by "how deceptively violent her books are," with shootings and cannibalism, and "in one particularly grisly scene, a corkscrew driven through the neck," a reference to The Ballad of Peckham Rye. Her range of subjects made her a hard author to pin down. Bailey wrote this book to capture "this lifelong slipperiness, this sense of perpetual reinvention," and to present, as he puts it, "a series of flickering sparks, each illuminating a different aspect of a life in constant motion."

The result is an affectionate work that covers Spark's Edinburgh childhood, when she was already "an avid watcher of others"; her years in South Africa, when, at 19, she married 32-year-old Sydney Oswald Spark, who, Spark learned too late, "had been suffering from a serious mental illness for some time"; her escape to England, leaving Sydney and young son Robin behind, to create wartime propaganda for the Foreign Office in Milton Bryan; her controversial postwar stint as general secretary of London's Poetry Review; her midlife conversion from Judaism to Catholicism; her eventual success as a novelist; and her final years living in Tuscany. To its credit, Bailey's book is not indiscriminately adulatory. He doesn't hesitate to criticize works like The Mandelbaum Gate, which he says is "riddled with contrivances," and he calls 1970's The Driver's Seat "a deeply unsettling book." But he's clearly a fan, and readers unfamiliar with Spark's work will be, too, after reading this excellent book. -- Michael Magras

 

Paranormal Payback, edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughs, is a compendium of delicious short stories that deal with paranormal vengeance in all it's violent varieties. Here's the blurb: A superstar lineup is included in this urban fantasy collection featuring short stories from authors Jim Butcher, Holly Black, Kim Harrison, Faith Hunter, and more …

In this short story collection, our heroes get what’s due to them—with a supernatural flair.

But the injustices that have been holding them back might cost them more than they realized.  

In “Mister Petty,” a brand-new Dresden Files story from author Jim Butcher, a woman hires Goodman Grey to get back at her cheating husband. She’s about to find out that Grey isn’t your ordinary detective—he’s a professional monster. And he’s going to balance the scales.

From author Holly Black, “Dying Isn’t Just for the Young” follows an elderly widow reckoning with family scheming to take away her independence in a world infected by a disease of vampirism.

New York Times bestselling author Faith Hunter’s “Razors and Revenge” finds the vampire bounty hunter Shiloh awaiting her judgement at the hands of the Dark Queen, fresh off a brutal werewolf attack and the loss of a dear friend. But Shiloh’s not just a vampire anymore—and the wolfish instincts growing inside her are howling for blood.

And Kim Harrison takes us to the Hollows in her story “Dog-eared.” The demon Algaliarept makes a bargain with the dangerously insane Newt, the last female demon, to punish an arrogant wizard for abusing his precious magical texts—but how ruthless is Al willing to be to get his petty vengeance? 

I'd say 80 percent of the stories in this anthology are worth the price of the book, while there's a couple of clunkers that stand out like an owl pellet in the punch bowl...but they're easily dismissed as readers can move on to the next story, which will likely be enjoyable. I'd give this anthology a B+ and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a variety of paranormal fantasy stories that will spark your imagination.

Paranormal Nonsense by Steve Higgs a dark paranormal thriller that is, unfortunately, full of misogyny and many tired fantasy tropes. Here's the blurb:  

Fight a demon, investigate a werewolf biker gang, have tea with mum ... it's all in a day's work for England's #1 paranormal P.I.

When a master vampire starts killing people in his hometown, paranormal investigator, Tempest Danger Michaels, takes it personally… and soon a race against time turns into a battle for his life. He doesn’t believe in the paranormal but has a steady stream of clients with cases too weird for the police.

Mostly it’s all nonsense, but when a third victim turns up with bite marks in her lifeless throat, can he really dismiss the possibility that this time the monster is real?

Joined by an ex-army buddy, a disillusioned cop, his friends from the pub, his dogs, and his mother (why are there no grandchildren, Tempest?), our paranormal investigator is going to stop the murders if it kills him …but when his probing draws the creature’s attention, his family and friends become the hunted.

This book reads like it was written either by a teenager who has played too many shooting-up-creatures of the night videogames, or an immature middle aged guy who has either read too many violent fantasy stories, watched too many episodes of Jack Reacher on streaming services or read too many Jack Reacher or James Bond-like thriller novels and considers himself an expert in all things martial arts/weaponry, and fantasizes about being the "hero" in any of these fictional roles, and saving the day while also "getting the girl" and being irresistible to women in general. Wanker. There's a lot of penis comparison and glorification, a lot of ridiculous focus on female breasts and butts, and a lot of immature humor disguised as "snark" in every chapter. Though the prose is simplistic, the plot is full of holes and doesn't make sense in many ways, as Tempest is so busy debunking the supernatural he's sent to investigate that he doesn't seem to notice or care that people are dying around him. I'd give this disgusting throw-back to old pulp fiction a C, and I can't really think of anyone stupid enough to recommend it to.

The Librarian of the Haunted Library by Brian Yansky is a supernatural horror comedy/fantasy that is self published, written in limp and ragged prose with a paint-by-numbers plot that is very unsatisfying. Here's the blurb: 

Kevin never planned on being a librarian. He especially didn't plan on being a librarian in a town that doesn't appear on any map, where the books talk back, and fictional characters occasionally escape their pages.

But when the previous librarian dies face-first in his oatmeal (poisoned, naturally), Kevin makes the mistake of trying on a ring (at the mayor's insistence) that obligates him to become Eden's new librarian. His first assignment? Find the murderer of his predecessor.

He's now responsible for a library where Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde argue about book rights, a ghost writer who is actually a ghost haunts the stacks, and something in the basement that looks suspiciously like a foster mother from his youth wants him dead.

Oh, and there's Olive, the waitress who is a witch, a murder suspect, whose father is technically dead but still lives with her, and who Kevin is definitely falling for.

Kevin has his hands full. If you’re up for a wild adventure, lots of laughs, and action with a touch of romance, read today. Especially for the reader who takes the less travelled road. 

Really? A protagonist named "Kevin"? Like the kid from Home Alone? I have a younger brother named Kevin who is also an idiot, and I was not surprised that this Kevin was a real goober who is tossed out of a car by a clown in a small, strange town that has a nasty haunted library and needs a sacrificial idiot to work at said library and cleanse it of ghosts and ghouls. Kevin turns out to be "the one" who can bring his special destructive curse to bear on the town and its unwanted guests. He does so in a meandering fashion, and by the time the book is over, readers won't be sure if Kevin is a hero or a hobo-turned-villain. There's some underlying misogyny, and the prose is murky at best. I'd give this short and painful book a C-, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a tried and true horror fan.

 

The House of Dreams by Kate Lord Brown is a WWII historical fiction novel that, though the plot is slow and the prose plain and somewhat plodding, tells an important story of those willing to risk their lives to save Jews from the Hollocaust during the early years of the war. Here's the blurb: A beautifully written novel based on the true-life story of Varian Fry, called “the artists’ Schindler,” who rescued thousands of Europe’s finest creative minds from certain death in WWII.

In 2000, Sophie Cass, an ambitious journalist, may have finally found her big break. Convinced a celebrated painter in the Hamptons is hiding a dark secret, she sets off to unravel the truth about his past. Her research takes her back decades to 1940, as an international group of artists and intellectuals gather at The House of Dreams, a beautiful villa just outside Marseilles where American journalist Varian Fry and his remarkable team are working to help them escape France. Despite the incredible danger they all face, The House of Dreams is a place of true camaraderie and creativity―and the setting of a love affair that changed the course of the painter’s life forever. But as Sophie digs further into his past, she begins to wonder whether some secrets are better left untouched.

Inspired by the real-life heroism of Varian Fry and the volunteers who risked their lives to help save legendary figures like Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, and Max Ernst, Kate Lord Brown’s The House of Dreams is a lyrically told novel of great courage, love, and the power of art.

 

There's a great deal of prose spent on gay characters who are "closeted" during a time when being openly gay was a death warrant, which was unexpected in a novel that purports to be about the brave people who tried to save Jewish artists during the early years of the war.  I was also surprised that the famed painters and journalists of that era were portrayed in such a harsh light, as being shiftless, lazy, insane or imbecilic, while those striving to get them out of France or Germany were painted as being nearly angelic. "Crazy" artists is a trope that I find somewhat offensive, as I'm sure many of these famed painters or poets were of sound mind, but where also terrified of leaving familiar surroundings and family for America, a place they knew nothing about. The protagonist from current times, Sophie Cass, pretends to be a journalist to get answers to her own family history from a very old and sick man. She comes off as cruel and ignorant, and I felt she was responsible for the 90-something man's death from all her badgering. Just badgering someone for answers doesn't make you a journalist, as I can attest. I'd give this book of unpleasant characters a C+, and only recommend it to those interested in artists who were persecuted by the Nazis during WWII.

 

Blackstone Launches Whoopi Goldberg Imprint, Beach Read Movie, Obit for Barbara Gordon, The Book Club For Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick, The Story Collector by Evie Woods, Tea, Tomes and Dragons by Maggie O'Connor, and A Town With Half the Lights on by Page Getz

Hello fellow readers! Here we are almost at the end of April, going into a nice and hopefully warm-ish May. I've been busy with so many health insurance and other issues its a miracle that I've read 4 books in 5 days. Anyway, here are some tidbits and reviews for you to read and enjoy.

 

I love Whoopi Goldberg, and I'm so excited that she's launched her own imprint. With her at the helm, I am sure they will publish a number of inclusive books in many different genres. 

Blackstone Launches Whoopi Goldberg's WhoopInk Imprint

Whoopi Goldberg, the award-winning actor, co-host of the View, and author of more than two dozen books, is expanding her partnership with Blackstone Publishing by launching her own book imprint: WhoopInk.

Goldberg "will curate the WhoopInk imprint focused on bringing fresh, diverse new talent to the marketplace, revisiting the works of beloved authors, and releasing eagerly awaited new influential memoirs," the publisher said.

Blackstone will initially acquire a selection of genre-spanning titles reflecting Goldberg's interest in "literature that is inclusive, heartfelt, richly crafted, generationally relatable, often comedic, and insightful." She will be "intimately involved in the publishing process, including selection, acquisition, cover design, and promotion," the publisher noted.

Goldberg's own future works will also be included under the imprint, including a follow-up to Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me and a nonfiction title coauthored by her longtime Whoop, Inc. business partner Tom Leonardis. Blackstone is releasing the revised and updated paperback edition of Bits and Pieces on April 14.

"I'm personally looking forward to finding new authors, working with established authors, and bringing influential voices into a curated imprint," Goldberg said. "I'm looking forward to working with Blackstone, who have been a powerhouse in the audio space and have been flourishing in print over the past years. WhoopInk will cater to audiobook lovers, like me, and get important stories into more hands and ears across the globe."

Blackstone president Anthony Goff noted that Goldberg "is well-read with exquisite taste of what defines a great book. I look forward to curating an important list of works with Whoopi, Tom, and her team as we look to impact the future of this great industry together."

 This sounds like a wonderful movie...I will have to keep an eye out for it.

Movies: Beach Read

Patrick Schwarzenegger (White Lotus) will star opposite Phoebe Dynevor in Beach Read, 20th Century Studios' adaptation of the 2020 bestselling novel by Emily Henry, Deadline reported. Yulin Kuang, co-writer of Netflix's People We Meet on Vacation, is directing from her own script, with Neal H. Moritz producing via his Original Films. Karina Rahardja will exec produce. Sarah Shepard and Catherine Hughes are overseeing for 20th.

Beach Read follows January Andrews, "a successful romance novelist who struggles with grief and writer's block after her father's death and the discovery of secrets he's long kept hidden," Deadline wrote. "While spending the summer in his Michigan beach house to prepare it for sale, she unexpectedly reconnects with Gus Everett, an author who was once her rival in college. Both creatively stuck, they agree to a writing challenge over the summer, swapping literary genres while promising that there will be no romance between them."

I remember reading this back when I was in my late teens, and being moved by all that Gordon went through with addiction. That she lived to be 90 is amazing.

Obituary Note: Barbara Gordon

Barbara Gordon, whose bestselling 1979 memoir of prescription pill abuse and a mental breakdown, I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can, was adapted into a movie starring Jill Clayburgh, died April 7. She was 90. The New York Times reported that the book "found a wide audience in an era when prescription drug abuse was far less well known than it is today, when checking into 'rehab' to kick an addiction was not nearly so commonplace, and when mental illness carried a far greater stigma in work and social life."

In 1975, when she was 40, Gordon was an Emmy Award-winning documentary writer and director at WCBS in New York, with an addiction to 30 milligrams a day of Valium, which a psychiatrist had prescribed for her anxiety. "When she told her doctor that she wanted to stop the pills, he assured her they were not addictive and instructed her to quit 'absolutely cold.' Instead of easing off the medication, Ms. Gordon spiraled quickly downward to the edge of psychosis. Unable to work, she spent months in two mental hospitals," the Times wrote.

Gordon began writing her memoir in 1977, after leaving the second hospital and discovering she couldn't find work in media. "Maybe it was stigma, maybe it was timing," she observed, "but I couldn't find a job in the business I had worked in for 20 years."

Her memoir, an indictment of American psychiatry, sold more than two million copies. She described herself as "a victim of the individual and collective ignorance of a profession that, because it is essentially unmonitored, attracts into its ranks a brand of charlatan that wouldn't dare practice in other branches of the medical establishment."

Harper & Row paid a modest $7,500 hardcover advance, but I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can was a big bestseller. Paramount paid $200,000 for the film rights and Bantam bought paperback rights for close to $500,000.

Gordon wrote two other books, the novel Defects of the Heart (1983) and Jennifer Fever (1988), a work of pop sociology about older men in relationships with younger women. Although most of her therapists had been men, Gordon also wrote in detail in her memoir about her sessions at the second hospital with a female therapist she called "Julie."

"I have a haunting, almost obsessive picture in my head, Julie," she recalled saying in one session. "Thousands of women all across the country being given pills by male doctors. Men sedating women, tranquilizing them, helping to rob them of themselves. It's obscene."

The Book Club For Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick is historical feminist literature that was by turns poignant and profound. Here's the blurb: 

By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia--one of Northern Virginia's most exclusive and picturesque suburbs. She has a standing invitation to the neighborhood coffee klatch, and now, thanks to her husband, a new subscription to A Woman's Place--a magazine that tells housewives like Margaret exactly who to be and what to buy. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough?

Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women--Bitsy and Viv--to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine--and that their secret longing for more is something they share. Nicknaming themselves the Bettys, after Betty Friedan, these four friends have no idea their impromptu club and the books they read together will become the glue that helps them hold fast through tears, triumphs, angst, and arguments--and what will prove to be the most consequential and freeing year of their lives.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a humorous, thought provoking, and nostalgic romp through one pivotal and tumultuous American year--as well as an ode to self-discovery, persistence, and the power of sisterhood.

 I hate that the blurb writer here tries to "tone down" the feminism by calling it "sisterhood" and the book a "nostalgic romp" when there's very little "romping" or playfulness going on at all. This book provides a window into the lives of these women who are discovering themselves during turbulent societal change in 1963, the year that JFK was shot and killed in Dallas.  I loved that once they read Betty Friedan's masterpiece, that they moved on to Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Sylvia Plath and Virginia Wolfe...each woman took these messages of standing up to the patriarchy and misogyny in different ways, but each changed their lives in significant ways due to realizing that their power was theirs for the taking. The prose was spirited and the plot full of evocative characters that kept things moving rapidly. I couldn't put it down. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry or any other recent historical feminist fiction.

The Story Collector by Evie Woods is historical romantic fantasy that takes place in Ireland during two different eras, and is fascinating and gripping right from the first chapter. Here's the blurb: 

In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…

One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.

In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.

With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.

'An engaging story about unsettled grief…the possibility that magic and the fairies are real is dangled tantalisingly before the reader, but not in a way that might make a sceptic roll their eyes' Historical Novel Society

Having visited Ireland 26 years ago, I can honestly say that I felt the same as the female main characters about Ireland's magical beauty. I also felt that the people were amazing, just as Anna and Sarah do, and I loved the storytelling and musical heritage that the Irish were so willing to share with Yankee tourists like me. This book is beautifully created, with gold embossing on the splendid cover, and the prose, though taut and simple, helps the fantastic plot move along at a rapid pace that never flags or gets caught in an infodump. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has ever been, or wants to go, to the Emerald Isle.

 

Tea, Tomes and Dragons by Maggie O'Connor is a delightful cozy fantasy mystery that, though its quite a hefty tome, will keep you on the edge of your seat. Here's the blurb: Fire-breathing librarian seeks quiet life… and cookies.

Every retirement plan has flaws. Beatrice's involves spontaneous combustion. After a small incident involving her dragonfire and a very flammable library, sixty-three-year-old Beatrice Ashcroft retreats to Emberville to run her family’s bookshop. She wants peace, pastries, and absolutely no incidents that require a fire extinguisher.

Unfortunately for her, the Ashcroft Bookshop has other plans.

Warmth hums through the floorboards. Runes shimmer across the walls. A ghostly founder sends unsolicited mail. And the town council cheerfully informs her that unless business drastically improves, the shop will be reassigned to a “more suitable custodian” by week’s end.

Her only hope? Partnering with the one person she hoped to avoid for the rest of her natural life: Celeste Moonshadow, an impeccably dressed high-school rival turned werewolf councilwoman.

Between a talking pig who insists on acting like the world’s grumpiest housecat, a teenage assistant with unpredictable moonlit magic, and a powerful ex-boyfriend who still thinks the quickest way to a dragon’s heart is through her two stomachs, Beatrice begins to suspect a truth she’s avoided for decades: maybe not all problems can be solved with dragonfire.

This cozy fantasy blends magical bookshop charm, lighthearted adventure, and found family warmth. Tea, Tomes, and Dragons offers a feel‑good mix of midlife magic, gentle mystery, and whimsical worldbuilding. 

The trade paperback copy that I bought was printed in larger type, which I appreciated, as an older reader, but it was the delicious and humorous prose and the lickety-split plot that kept me reading into the wee hours. Also, who knew that Dragons were big on pastries and sweets, like cookies? It makes sense, if you think about it, that they would have a fast metabolism that burns calories quickly, and therefore dragons, even in human form, need to snack throughout the day. But that and the smug and arrogant teacup pig (who believes he's really a cat) made the whole plot seamless and easy to read and understand. I loved it, and I loved the treasures that they uncovered, and the way that the town embraced Bea and her wee piggie. I'd give it an A- and recommend it to anyone who loves bookstore cozy mysteries and fun characters.

A Town With Half The Lights On by Page Getz  is a small-town epistolary novel that is so well written you'll be halfway through the book before you realize it. Here's the blurb: 

For readers comes a quirky and refreshing epistolary novel about a family of culture-shocked Brooklynites transplanted to Goodnight, Kansas and their fight for their unexpected lifeline: the legendary May Day Diner.

Welcome to Goodnight, Kansas.

Population: Many Kansans, three New Yorkers, and one chance to save the place they love most

With more wind chimes than residents, folks don't move to Goodnight when their lives are going well. That's why all eyes are on chef Sid Solvang and his family from the moment they turn down Emporia Road to the dilapidated Victorian they inherited.

While Sid searches for work and a way back to Brooklyn, his daughter searches for answers to the cryptic messages her grandfather left behind to save both her family and the town. But then Sid makes an impulsive purchase: the fledgling May Day Diner, an iconic eatery under the threat of the wrecking ball.

As the Solvangs search for their ticket out, they discover the truth of Goodnight: one of heart and tradition, of exploitation and greed, and neighbors you would do anything to save. And the Solvangs must navigate all of it—plus a wayward girl named Disco, a host of rambunctious alpacas, and the corrupt factory sustaining the town—in order to find their way back home...wherever that may be.

Told through diary entries, emails, school notes, and an anonymous town paper of the Lady Whistledown variety, A Town with Half the Lights On is a tender testament to the notions that home isn't just the place you live, family isn't just your relatives, and it's almost never easy to find the courage to do what's right.

 This "found family" novel had me at hello. Though I've lived in large cities (Boston) I grew up in small towns in Iowa, and I know how the two differ in terms of living a good life. People care about one another and the town in small communities, while big cities tend to be anonymous and cold, full of people who do not engage with one another unless absolutely necessary. There's a cynicism that is lacking in small towns, and none more so than this dying town of Goodnight. It falls upon the newcomers to save the local diner, and then to save another business, and finally help the town buy the big tire factory and set up a co-op, so they're all owners and all are paid fairly. There's something so satisfying about triumph against corporate greed, that I found myself cheering them on several times in the book. The prose was light and airy, and the plot swift and meaningful. I'm a big fan of epistolary books (told through letters and emails) so this one went down a treat. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to fans of Fannie Flagg and the Mitford books.

 

Reese's Book Pick for April, Kate DiCamillo Leaps to Norton, Great Gatsby on Stage, Frog and Other Essays by Anne Fadiman, The Magical Mail Logs of Phoenix Firebolt by Paula Lester, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, and The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

Welcome to the second (or third) week of April, which, in the PNW, is rainy and warming up for those summer flowers that we're due in May and June. I've been having a lot of health struggles lately, so I have a longer list of books to review. But I hope all of you are enjoying your time indoors and dry, reading, having snacks and tea with a cozy cat and a blanket or two. See you again next week, book friends!    

Reese's April Book Club Pick: Into the Blue

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie (‎‎Ballantine) is the April pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "From the moment AJ and Noah are thrust together as scene partners, their chemistry, on and off the stage, is undeniable. After years of pushing and pulling away from each other, the question isn't if feelings exist, but if either of them are brave enough to act on them.

[Into the Blue] is the perfect book for readers who can't resist a story full of yearning, second chances, and big feelings." Reese said: "Into the Blue is a story that really stayed with me--about love, timing, and what happens when the past finds its way back into your life. I was so drawn to the way it explores fate versus choice."

What a delight it must be to be recognized as the Bookstore Lady! I wish that I'd been able to own and operate a bookstore myself. 

Quotation of the Day

"I live in between our two stores, so I can't tell you how often I will be walking down the street and a parent with a child will be like, 'This is the lady who owns the bookstore!'

"I absolutely love being the bookstore lady. Like, I love giving dogs treats and flirting with other people's babies and giving recommendations. It does feel like you're imprinting on these people. My husband and I have built something that children are going to remember, and that feels so meaningful." --Emma Straub, co-owner of Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Great news for a fantastic children's author...I read several of her books to my son Nick when he was a toddler.

Kate DiCamillo and Karen Lotz 'Leap' to Norton

Kate DiCamillo, like the hero of her 12th novel, The True Story of Child Outlaw Edith Leapyear as Told by Herself, is making a "leap"--to W.W. Norton. DiCamillo's upcoming novel will be one of the inaugural titles in Norton's newly expanded children's book program launching in spring 2027.

This is a full-circle moment for DiCamillo and Karen Lotz, director of children's books and strategic development at Norton since September 2025.

Lotz read the manuscript for Because of Winn-Dixie, DiCamillo's debut novel and a Newbery Honor book, on her first day at Candlewick. And now, in Lotz's new role at Norton, DiCamillo's book was one of the first books she bought. Lotz acquired world English-language rights from Holly M. McGhee, president and creative director of Pippin Properties, for "north of seven figures," according to McGhee. Ahead of the Bologna Book Fair next week, McGhee said they've already sold 11 translations of The True Story of Child Outlaw Edith Leapyear, as Told by Herself.

"When I came through the doors [of W.W. Norton]," Lotz said, "it was a feeling of being with people who clearly loved books and loved each other. It felt familiar and it felt like home." DiCamillo, too, was struck by "the love of books and the cohesiveness of the team."

When asked why DiCamillo, whose body of work (including her two Newbery-winning novels, The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses) almost entirely resides at Candlewick, made the decision to move to Norton, she answered, "A character can sometimes influence how you look at the world and encourage you to try something new, and so this is me following Edith and listening to her." She pointed to the Norton logo as being so much a part of her as a reader, "and it is the thing that is in my head as I think about all this, it's very much about me spreading my wings." At Norton, Lotz will also have the opportunity to edit books for adults, something she did while at Penguin Young Readers when her children's book authors wanted to write for adults; DiCamillo will also have that option at Norton.

"It's exciting to think about," Lotz said of the range of possibilities, "because the longer I've been in our world, I've realized that one of the things I don't love are all the barriers that are put up in front of readers. Some of them are not deliberate; they're consequences of how books are sold and how the world works. Some of them are deliberate, and those get me worked up. But being at a place that brings those barriers down, I think that's something Norton is growing into on the young readers side. It's relatively new for them, but they're so interested in learning more about bringing 'books that live' [Norton's motto] to readers of all ages."

I would bet this story takes to the stage smoothly and with great flair.

On Stage: The Great Gatsby

Noting that last month Corbin Bleu (High School Musical; Kiss Me, Kate) stepped into the role of Nick Carraway in Broadway's The Great Gatsby after playing the role in the musical's 2025 London production, Playbill featured a video of him leading the New York company in "Roaring On" at the Broadway Theatre.

Based on the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, the production features music and lyrics by Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square) and Jason Howland (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), along with a book by Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones). Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) directs with choreography by Dominique Kelley (Mariah's Magical Christmas Special).

Frog and Other Essays by Anne Fadiman is a delightfully smart, witty selections of thoughts from one of America's great non fiction writers. Here's the blurb: A new collection of evocative personal essays from one of America’s most beloved nonfiction writers, Anne Fadiman.

In Frog, Anne Fadiman returns to her favorite genre, the essay, of which she is one of our most celebrated practitioners. Ranging in subject matter from her deceased frog, to archaic printer technology, to the fraught relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his son Hartley, these essays unlock a whole world―one overflowing with mundanity and oddity―through sly observation and brilliant wit.

The diverse subjects of Frog are bound together by the quality of Fadiman’s attention, and subtly, they come to form a slantwise portrait of the artist, a writer dedicated to chronicling the world as it changes around her, in ways small and large, as time passes. 

This slender volume is filled with Fadiman's erudite observations on the mundane things that stick with us over the course of a lifetime...such as the changes in computer printers and the advent of Zoom for communication during the COVID years. Like all good essayists, Fadiman will have you laughing one moment and crying in sympathy the next. The full range of the human experience is writ large in these spare, concise chapters, making the whole book not even reach 200 pages. Though most avid readers could finish the entire volume in a afternoon, you will want to slow down and savor each chapter and experience, comparing it to your own life's trials and tribulations. I'd give this brilliant work an A, and recommend it to anyone who says that they "don't have time" to read. Trust me, you have time for a life-changing chapter of observations on life from Anne Fadiman. She's worth the time.

The Magical Mail Logs of Phoenix Firebolt by Paula Lester is a cozy fantasy novel that roams into deeper emotional territory than expected. Here's the blurb: 

A mysterious letter. A village that shouldn't exist. A post office that breathes.

Phoenix Firebolt has spent twenty-three years at a desk job so beige it practically apologizes for existing. No friends. No connections. No one who'd notice if she disappeared.

Then a letter arrives, sealed with wax, written in handwriting she almost recognizes, offering her a position as mail carrier in Mosshollow, an enchanted village hidden from the ordinary world. The post office is a living tree. The mailboxes have opinions. The puffin who comes with the job has a sardine budget and zero tolerance for tardiness.

Mosshollow is full of enchanted care packages, a tea-prescribing proprietor, and a baker who considers cold scones a moral failing. For the first time in decades, Phoenix feels home. But the post office is keeping secrets. And some of them are hers.

A cozy fantasy about found family, magical mail, and learning that the bravest thing you can do is stay.

Perfect for readers who love Legends & Lattes and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

There's a lot of therapeutic engagement with grief, pain, loneliness and love in this book, and, along with a fascinating foray into the lives of mail carrier postal Puffins, this will be a book that, once started, is nearly impossible to put down again. I was riveted by Phoenix's journey of understanding the loss of her mother and her grandmother, and their time and sacrifice that they hid from her for over 45 years. She learns that listening, and not judging or trying to fix things or sacrificing your life are the keys to dealing with past ghosts of trauma. Though the book was, I think, self-published and therefore had a few typos along the way, (and it was too long and needed a good editor) it was worth slogging through some overly puffy prose to get to the HFN ending. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has dealt with family or generational trauma.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a science fiction/dystopian fantasy that reads like a videogame written out over 445+ pages, with small illustrations. I will warn you that it was written for the coveted 18-28 year old male audience ( read: gamers/incels/immature boys with rabid libidos and a yen for killing creatures to satisfy their blood lust), not for 65 year old women like myself. There's a ton of ageism and sexism and gore in this book, and if you are at all mature and intelligent, this plot will not appeal to you. Here's the blurb: 

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

Though I know parts of this book were meant to be funny, I wasn't able to laugh at the stupid 10 year old boy humor that relies on gross bodily fluids in order to be funny...its more annoying than humorous, IMO. Carl, who is supposed to be sympathetic, is just irritating and crude, and even his smug and superior cat is an annoying b*tch, which, again, I gather we're supposed to find funny, (this relies on one of the many tired tropes in the book, such as "all cats are strategic snobs and see humans as inferior, while dogs are loving and loyal and stupid" Having grown up with both, I call BS on that) but which I found annoying and stupid. Princess Donut, the Queen Anne Chonk is one of the few reasons Carl lives to see another level. There are alien overlords that are somewhat reminiscent of Douglas Adams "Hitch hikers" Vogons, and the whole "televised hunger games" thing sounds like something that Adams would have reveled in. I got bored with the constant death/battles/gross squishing of bug aliens that was a major part of every chapter, but because my son loved this book (he's a gamer and is right at the end of the whole coveted young male demographic) I struggled through and finished it, and was relieved that it was over (I am certainly NOT wasting time reading any of the sequels). I'd give this book a C, and only recommend it to young gamer guys.

 

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (a pseudonym for a wife and husband writing team) is an epic romantasy wherein the female protagonist doesn't suddenly become a stupid slave to the gorgeous and muscly male protagonist at the first opportunity, thank heaven! Here's the blurb: When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn't take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she's been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters' ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she's coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.

For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.

 

 The book itself is beautifully presented, with glorious cover art and cerulean blue page edges. But it's the fascinating story within that makes it worth the full publisher's price. I've read other Andrews books, completely unaware that there was a writing duo behind it, and I've never read any of her novels that were quite as feminist and smart as this one. Maggie has ovaries of steel, and she flat out refuses to allow anyone or anything, even death, keep her from heroically saving the people of this world that she lands in from a horrific war that nearly wipes out the planet (in the books she's read). Once Maggie gets a motley band of saved friends and found family on her side, she manages to turn the tide away from war and pain and death, especially for the women and children, who always bear the brunt of the horrors of war in the end. I loved this page-tuner, and would give it a B+, and recommend it to anyone who is tired of the silly, incompetent women usually found at the heart of romantasy novels. You will cheer when you meet the indomitable Maggie.

 

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula is a very pretty illustrated novel that is also an action/adventure romantasy that will grip you from page one and take you on a fascinating historical journey for nearly 500 pages. Here's the blurb: When a Victorian fossil hunter discovers a baby pterodactyl, she vows to protect him, with the help of a fellow scholar—her former fiancé—in this enchanting and transporting historical fantasy.

Mary Anning wants to be a geomagician—a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic—but since the Geomagical Society of London refuses to admit women, she’s stuck selling her discoveries to tourists instead. Then an ancient egg hatches in her hands, revealing a lovable baby pterodactyl that Mary names Ajax, and she knows that this is a scientific find that could make her career—if she’s strategic.

But when Mary contacts the Society about her discovery, they demand to take possession of Ajax. Their emissary is none other than Henry Stanton, a distinguished (and infuriatingly handsome) scholar . . . and the man who once broke Mary’s heart. She knows she can’t trust her fellow scholars, who want to discredit her and claim Ajax for their own, but Henry insists he believes in the brilliant Mary and only wants to help her obtain the respect she deserves.

Now Mary has a new mystery to solve that’s buried deeper than any dinosaur skeleton: She must uncover the secrets behind the Society and the truth about Henry. As her conscience begins to chafe against her ambition, Mary must decide what lengths she’s willing to go to finally belong—and what her heart really wants.

“Mary Anning, magic, politics, and a pterodactyl—with this intriguing mix, this delightful and clever book provides definitive proof that Victorian England needed more dinosaurs!”—Sarah Beth Durst 

 

I've got to agree with SB Durst, Victorian England needs more dinosaur and fossil magic stories! I was on the edge of my seat, wondering whether the evil robber barons of scientific discovery would get ahold of Ajax and dissect him, which would have been heartbreaking. It was sad enough that Mary had to hide Ajax in order to keep him free and unharmed, but the uncovering of all the misogynistic cruelty and political corruption going on around her was devastating. Still the prose is clearheaded and insightful, and keeps the labyrinth of the plot from getting too complex. I enjoyed it and would give this very readable novel an A-, and recommend it to fans of Ammonite (Nicola Griffith) or fans of 19th century female Victorian literature.

 

Girl, Interrupted on Stage with Music, Animal Farm Animated Movie, The Correspondent Wins James Patterson Prize, On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn, Fiends and Festivals by S Usher Evans, The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst, and The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson

Hello Bibliophiles! It's the second week of April already, and I'm nearly to the end of my TBR, which is worrisome. But I'm sure I will be able to get some more books soon, and I've already got my 4 books ready for the next blog post a week or so from now. I wasn't sure that I was going to continue with this blog after the 1,000th post, but thanks to the love and support of my son, I've decided to keep on writing for as long as I'm able. So keep on reading and reviewing on your own blogs or journals, folks. And Happy Spring!

 

This was such a ground-breaking movie, I'm anxious to see what they do with it as a musical play on stage. 

 

On Stage: Girl, Interrupted Play with Music

The cast has been set for the Public Theater's upcoming Off-Broadway world premiere stage adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, adapted from Susanna Kaysen's memoir and set to play at the company's Martinson Hall May 13-June 21, Playbill reported.

Pulitzer-winning playwright Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) is writing the book for the play with music, with Grammy-winning former 'Til Tuesday front-woman Aimee Mann writing the music. Material written for the musical previously comprised Mann's most recent album, Queens of the Summer Hotel. The production will also feature choreography by Sonya Tayeh.

Jo Bonney will direct the cast that includes Juliana Canfield as Susanna and singer-songwriter King Princess making her theater debut as Lisa, alongside Emily Skinner (Dr. Wick), Ta'Rea Campbell (Valerie), Gabi Campo (Tori), Mano Felciano (Man), Mia Pak (Grace), Katherine Reis (Daisy), Sally Shaw (Polly), and Lauren Jeanne Thomas (Judy).

Animated Animal Farm? Sign me up! This should be fascinating, and I can hardly wait for its premier.

Movies: Animal Farm: A Cautionary Tail

Angel Studios has released a trailer for Andy Serkis's animated movie Animal Farm: A Cautionary Tail, adapted by Nicholas Stoller from George Orwell's classic novel, Deadline reported, adding that it will be released in theaters on May 1.

The voice cast for the project, which had its world premiere last June at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, includes Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani, and Serkis.

Serkis "has created a fresh take on the book, which Orwell wrote in the mid-1940s as Stalinism had taken firm hold in post-revolution Soviet Union," Deadline noted. "The book told the tale of a group of farm animals who rebel against their owner with a plan to create a utopian, free and happy life for themselves. But one group--the pigs--end up taking over and the society becomes as shackled as it was before."

This has been one of my favorite books of the year, as I'm a sucker for well written epistolary novels, which this is. I'm so glad that Ms Evans won this prize from James Patterson.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans won the inaugural James Patterson and Bookshop.org Prize

The prize, which is "dedicated to celebrating debut authors, hand-selected by independent booksellers." The award honors full-length debut books published in the U.S. within the past 12 months. All nominations and selections were made by booksellers working in qualifying independent bookstores. Evans receives $15,000 as winner, and first runner-up Milo Todd gets $10,000 for The Lilac People.

"I've been a longtime supporter of Indie bookstores–and emerging authors," Patterson said. "Creating this award that recognizes both the booksellers that are getting books into the hands of readers and of course, the books themselves, was a no-brainer to me. I'm excited to see which titles are nominated by those who in my opinion are the real experts!"

Beth Seufer Buss of Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, N.C., praised The Correspondent as a "powerful novel about connection; Sybil's journey through trauma and grief is both poignant and compelling, making this an unforgettable read. From the beginning of her book journey, Virginia Evans has been a champion of independent bookstores, and as her local indie, we've loved watching her journey and connection with readers. The trajectory of The Correspondent from a debut novel to a NYT bestseller (4 months after release) to a #1 NYT bestseller (8 months after release) illustrates the power of readers connecting and sharing books."

 

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn is a YA (though its not listed as such) romantasy that pulls out all the vampire/dragon/high school/academy for the wealthy tropes and beats them like a drum until you nearly pass out from ennui. Here's the blurb: Welcome to Bloodwing Academy.

Expect magic. Expect competition. Expect blood.

I didn't sign up for this. A half-fae in a school of highblood vampires? That's a recipe for suffering.

I'm Medra Pendragon, last of the dragon riders—or so they tell me. Funny thing is, there are no dragons left. Not a single one. But somehow, that hasn't stopped the vampires from deciding I'm worth capturing. Now I'm stuck at Bloodwing Academy, where the highbloods run everything, and blightborn like me? We're just blood in their veins, pawns in their games.

But that's not even the worst part. Enter Blake Drakharrow: cold, arrogant, and way too gorgeous for his own good. He's been tormenting me since the moment we met, and now, thanks to some ancient ritual, we're betrothed. He acts like he owns me, but I'm not going down without a fight.

Bloodwing isn't just a school—it's a battlefield. Highbloods fight for power, and if you're weak, you're dead.

Between deadly competitions, lies that could get me executed, and a dragon-shaped secret looming over my head, all I have to do is survive. Easy, right? Except I'm starting to think the real danger isn't the academy—it's what I'm becoming in this twisted game of power.

And Blake? He might just be the one who pushes me over the edge.

They think they can control me. They think they can use me. But they have no idea what they've awakened. 

 

Medra starts out, like a lot of her fellow female protagonists, smart and proud and not inclined to accept crap from anyone, but of course once she meets the male protagonist, Blake, who is gorgeous, all that goes out the window and suddenly she's a wimpy spineless girl who will do anything and forgive any horrible transgression, as long as she can sex it up with the wealthy, arrogant asshat Blake. UGH. the so called "twists" were run of the mill, and the plot was standard YA fare, led by pedestrian prose. The book itself is beautifully made, with a deep red illustrated book jacket and raised silver letters with red dragon scaled end papers. Such a pretty novel full of drivel. The ending was unsurprising and mediocre, and the book itself needed a sharp editor to weed out some of the overblown paragraphs. I'd give this lukewarm book a C+ and recommend it to teens who can't get enough of sexy vampire academy stories.

 

Fiends and Festivals by S Usher Evans is a cozy fun fantasy/mystery, and book 2 of the Weary Dragon Inn series. Short and filled with tightly written, evocative paragraphs, this sophomore novel has a swift plot that will keep you turning pages long after bedtime. Here's the blurb: 

The Harvest Festival is the most-anticipated event in the quaint village of Pigsend, and Bev and the Weary Dragon Inn are ready to welcome visitors from near and far. But when strange occurrences begin happening, including the destruction of Bev's beloved herb garden, Bev's got to put her sleuthing hat back on to uncover the truth.

There's no shortage of suspects, from the snooty official judge all the way from the Queen's Capital to a mischievous little dog who might be more than he seems. But if Bev doesn't figure it out soon, then this year's Harvest Festival may be Pigsend's last.

The eagerly awaited sequel to Drinks and Sinkholes, Fiends and Festivals is the second book in the Weary Dragon Inn series, a cozy fantasy adventure from two-time award-winning author S. Usher Evans.

 I found the characters as compelling and interesting as they were in the first book, especially the ever-competent Bev, who works hard to keep everyone in town fed and happy. In this part of the series, she's pushed to show off her best rosemary bread at the local festival, and becomes embroiled in the mystery of how things keep getting broken or spoiled, so one snobby guy in particular can take home as many winning ribbons as he wants. The story highlights how competitive things can get in small towns when it comes to handicrafts and baked goods. My own grandmothers, both farm wives, attended local fairs and festivals and often brought home ribbons for their quilts or pies or garden produce. I know my maternal grandmother kept her ribbons until they were so old they were literally falling apart. Bragging rights were a big deal in small towns back in the day. The prose is straightforward and the plot marches along without missing a beat. I'd give this delightful tale a B+ and recommend it to anyone who enjoys peeking into windows of small village life from back when.

 

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst is a YA romantasy novel that is beautifully produced, with a pretty colorful cover design and floral colorful edges. Here's the blurb: A teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn—only to discover that the fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret—in this cozy and irresistible new young adult fantasy from the author of The Spellshop.

This stunning first edition of The Faraway Inn features gorgeous designed edges.

When sixteen-year-old Calisa arrives at her great-aunt’s B&B in rural Vermont for the summer, she’s shocked to find a rundown inn rather than the cozy bed-and-breakfast she was expecting. Grumpy and eccentric, Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn . . . even though she clearly needs the help.

To convince her great-aunt to keep her around, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper’s (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the surer she is that there’s something strange about the B&B—and its guests. Something almost . . . otherworldly.

The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she’s come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth before it’s too late. 

 

The magical secret (SPOILER) is that there are portals to other worlds within the closets of each room of the inn, which seams more science fiction-ish than fantasy, but I would guess that the publisher kept pushing it as fantasy because the audience for fantasy is broader than that of science fiction. I was entranced by the magical creatures (Steve!) and I also enjoyed the fact that Calisa doesn't give up, but instead works around her grumpy and mean great aunt to clean up and revitalize the inn and make breakfasts tailor made to suit her otherworldly guests. The prose was sweet and fascinating and the plot sweeps you off your feet. I'd give this delightful book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories of personal and professional growth in odd places.

 

The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson is a magical creature action/adventure fantasy with some romance woven throughout. Here's the blurb: A brilliant con artist and a secretive librarian collide in author Kalyn Josephson’s enchanting adult fantasy debut packed with twists, tricks, slowburn romantic tension, and magical creatures.

Kasira used to be a masterful con artist: choosing her target, building trust, judging the precise moment to make her move. Now, she’s working off a lengthy prison sentence by hunting dangerous magical creatures on behalf of the fanatical kingdom of Kalthos.

But Kasira’s past catches up to her when the ambassador from Kalthos arrives at her camp with a deal: her freedom in exchange for infiltrating and destabilizing the magical institution meant to protect all six kingdoms—the Library of Amorlin.

When Kasira assumes the role of the new Assistant Librarian, she enters an enchanting world brimming with books and beasts, tempting her with a life she can never have. But Kasira’s real future depends on her long con to bring down the Librarian. Unfortunately, Allaster is as prickly as he is handsome, and his monstrous secrets are about to catch up with them both.

I loved the enlivened library and the power that librarians and the library itself wield in this book, and I found myself wanting to visit this kingdom and it's powerful library and staff. The characters are charming and the plot swift and fascinating. The adventure and mysteries kept me turning pages long into the night, and even though the book was well over 400 pages long, it felt like the story ended way too soon. I wanted more of the wonders of this bibliophile's heaven and its inhabitants. I'd give this beautifully illustrated and designed volume a B+, and recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by fantastical creatures and books that reside in magical libraries.

 

Pages and Perks Coming to St Pete, FLA, Billy Porter at Barnes and Noble, SIBD Visits 33 Bookstores, Beaverdale Books Expanding in Iowa, Marriage Bargain Movie, Warrior, Princess, Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer, Life:A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg, The Ruins Beneath Us by Sasha Sloan, Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson, The House of Hidden Letters by Izzy Broom, and Gorgon With the Wind by Devon Monk

Welcome to April and springtime...and I'd like to say a few words about my mother, Roma Shalin, who just passed away on March 26, from Leukemia, at age 88. My mom is the one responsible for my lifelong love of books, as she began reading to me when I was just a baby. She would read to me every night before bedtime, and sometimes before naptime during the day. Then, when I showed interest in learning how to read myself, she shepherded me through the alphabet and the whole process of reading when I was 4 years old. By the time I started kindergarten a year later, I was well ahead of my classmates in learning my letters and reading comprehension. My kindergarten teacher, a lovely young woman who died of cancer unexpectedly, noted in my school files that I was a very bright child whom she felt would do extremely well throughout my school career, and she was right. And I owe it all to my wonderful mom, who shared my love of the printed word. In her later years, mom read a lot of cozy mysteries featuring kitty cats and female sleuths. She was also a fan of reading newspapers and doing the crosswords. She was a nurse for 43 years, and atheist, and a beautiful woman, inside and out. Rest in peace, and without pain, dear mom. I love you and miss you so much, already. 

I lived in St Pete for years, and loved the fact that it sported several iconic bookstores. It sounds like this new one will be a big hit.  

 Pages & Perks Bookstore & More Coming to St. Petersburg, Fla.

Pages & Perks Bookstore & More, "a family-friendly bookstore with events, desserts, mocktails, beer and wine," is opening this summer at 914 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. South in St. Petersburg, Fla., I Love the Burg reported. Pages and Perks is in the process of renovations and designinside the 1,600-square-foot space. As the bookstore prepares, it will continue to host pop-ups at various St. Pete events and festivals. 

Kate Johnson, owner with her husband, Ben Johnson, said the bookstore will carry everything from young adult and children's books to graphic novels, sci-fi, thrillers, horror, fantasy, and adult romance. In addition, the store will host events and offer a range of desserts and mocktails by Curious Elixirs, as well as an assortment of wines and local beer. 

The owners envision a space where locals can linger: "Pages and Perks isn't being designed as a place where you run in, grab a book, and leave. If that's your style, we won't hold it against you, but Pages and Perks is prepared to offer you so much more than just a transaction. It will be a welcoming space where we encourage you to hang out, get to know the owners and the community. In a world that's becoming more digital, the ability to sit down with a book and escape with us for a little while is a much-needed break."

I love Billy Porter and his iconic style! I wish that I lived near NYC for events like these. 

Image of the Day: Billy Porter at Barnes & Noble UWS

Barnes & Noble on Manhattan's Upper West Side hosted Billy Porter for his picture book Songbird in the Light (Abrams Books for Young Readers), written with Chris Clarkson and illustrated by Charly Palmer. Porter was in conversation with director Jerry Mitchell; the two longtime friends worked together on Kinky Boots. They chatted for 45 minutes and then Porter did a photo op with guests.

I love the fact that Seattle and surrounding areas (I live in a community that is 35 miles south of Seattle) are committed to keeping the indie bookstore dream alive, especially with events like these.

SIBD Goes for Gold with 33 Stores

Seattle-area bookstores are once again staging Seattle Independent Bookstore Day, which this year challenges book lovers to visit all 33 participating stores (during the 10 days between April 25 and May 4). The prize is a "bookstore day champion stamp card," good for a one-time 25% discount at each of the 33 stores. Those who visit at least five stores receive a single 25% discount card good at one of the 33 stores.

To fund its activities, the organization is selling official SIBD T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies designed by Stephen Crowe of Third Place Books on Bonfire.

I've had to email my friend Roger, who lives in Des Moines, about the expanding bookstore in a suburb of Des Moines that has always been a bit fancy (and expensive) called Beaverdale. Hopefully he will go and suss out the situation there and get back to me. 

Beaverdale Books Expanding in Des Moines, Iowa

Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa, will expand into an adjacent storefront this spring, Axios reported. The expansion will add about 500 square feet, allowing for more inventory and larger events; per co-owner Hunter Gillum, the store's seating capacity will nearly double to 60.

Gillum noted that Beaverdale Books has owned the space it will be expanding into for a few years already, but used it for storage or as an occasional sublet. The store took the opportunity to expand after the most recent tenant left in January.

"It's perfectly timed," Gillum told Axios. "A new layout, a new space. It's just kind of fun." Located at 2629 Beaver Ave., Beaverdale Books will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Gillum expects the new addition to be ready later this spring.

This sounds like a fascinating movie about a bookstore owner...I hope that it is made well and does well on Amazon streaming services.

Movies: The Marriage Bargain

20th Century Studios has acquired film rights to The Marriage Bargain, Jennifer Probst's bestselling romantic comedy novel, with Laura Lekkos (Relationship Goals) adapting the screenplay. Deadline reported that the project "is notable in that it represents the first outing for Premeditated Productions, the production arm of Entangled Publishing co-founded by producer Sheryl Clark (The Gorge) and Entangled CEO and publisher Liz Pelletier, outside of a first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios whose productivity recently led to a five-year extension." 

The Marriage Bargain "follows a bookstore owner who enters a marriage of convenience with a billionaire to save her family home, only to find the strict terms of their arrangement in jeopardy when real feelings between them emerge," Deadline noted. Cayla Tyne will oversee for Premeditated, with Sarah Shepard overseeing for 20th Century.

Warrior, Princess, Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer is a romantasy action/adventure novel that doesn't really have any spice until the final chapter of the novel, but once it gets going, its a steam-train of hot and sweaty passion! Here's the blurb: 

Fates collide and passions ignite in author Brigid Kemmerer’s steamy adult fantasy debut about three characters torn between chasing, betraying, and craving each other: a princess caught between duty and desire, the fearsome warrior king she’s promised to, and the assassin tasked with hunting them down.

WARRIOR. King Maddox Kyronan’s fire magic has earned him a ruthless reputation on the battlefield, but now his land is slowly burning. Ky’s only chance to save his people is to enter a marriage alliance with the neighboring nation of Astranza, and hope that their royal family’s power to manipulate the weather will help his kingdom flourish once more. He just needs to ensure no one finds out how this blaze began.

PRINCESS. With enemies advancing on Astranza, Princess Jory’s home needs the protection of the fearsome warrior king, but she is hiding a dangerous secret: her family’s magic is fading. Tempting as it is to reject her duties and run away with her childhood friend, Asher, Jory knows that she is the kingdom’s last hope. When she meets her intended, Jory is surprised to discover that beneath Ky’s daunting exterior is a compassionate and sharp-witted man who sets her heart aflame. But what will he do when he realizes she’s deceiving him?

ASSASSIN. Asher’s done what he must to survive, even if that means getting his hands dirty. Once a young nobleman in Astranza’s palace, where he and Jory caused mischief together, now he’s part of the Hunter’s Guild, employing much darker skills. When a lucrative job comes his way, Asher can’t say no—until he discovers the targets. Someone wants Jory and Ky dead. With the Guild watching, Asher must decide what he’s willing to do to protect the woman he loves and the maddening king who keeps getting under his skin.

Warrior Princess Assassin marks the beginning of a thrilling new fantasy trilogy filled with enchantment, adventure, and passionate romance.

SPOILER! So the tea here is that the three main characters end up forming a "throuple" and having a three way sexual experience, with Jory being the only woman and instigator of the whole thing. While I love representation in novels of people on the LGBTQ spectrum, I felt that the male characters didn't really get more than a shallow veneer of gay representation, during the threesome, while we're left wondering what exactly Jory's sexual orientation is, other than not being able to make up her mind between loving two guys, one she grew up with and the other her royal fiance, whom it turns out isn't really a bad guy after all. I wasn't terribly fond of the politics of this book, but the author didn't get too deeply into it, and focused instead on the love triangle. The magic system is pretty beige, and the plot somewhat predictable, but BK's prose keeps the novel chugging along at a swift pace that will keep most readers going until the wee hours. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who likes unique sexual situations and adaptable characters.

 

Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg is a beautifully rendered book of contemporary fiction that has a lot of epistolary chapters filled with profound and poignant insights. Here's the blurb: A warm, intimate novel that reminds us of the richness that can be found all throughout our lives—by the author of The Story of Arthur Truluv and Open House
As ninety-two-year-old Florence "Flo" Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will. But as it goes on, telling surprising stories about those “little” things Flo will leave behind (What could possibly be the worth of a rubber band kept in a matchbox tied up in red ribbon?), an unforgettable portrait of the life she has lived emerges.

The letter starts off as an autobiography in things, but it turns out to do much more than that: ultimately, it will transform Flo and those around her. In the time she has left, Flo decides to take herself up on tiny dares. She encourages Ruthie to reconsider her impending divorce by sharing a startling, long-buried secret about her own perfect-seeming marriage. Flo has never had a pedicure before now, and as long as she's going to a beauty parlor, she arranges to have a blue streak put in her hair, too. And as these adventures lead her to make new friends, Flo helps them, too, find the fulfillment that living a full life has led her to understand.

Full of Elizabeth Berg's characteristic mix of warmth, humor, and poignancy, Life: A Love Story is a reminder that whatever your circumstances, as long as you're alive, you can keep on investing in life. The joy will inevitably follow. 

I was reading this book as my own mother, who was 88, was dying, and I kept wishing that I could share it with her. Unfortunately, toward the end, she was given liquid morphine and was unable to stay awake long enough to read anything, which is sad because reading was one of her lifelong pleasures. Flo was a woman of her time, jotting down ideas and helpful hints to her friend Ruthie (oddly enough, my mother had a gal who grew up on a farm next to hers named Ruthie, who was her friend for decades until she passed away 15 or so years ago) and trying to let Ruthie know about Flo's life and loves, her happiness and regrets. A number of people who grew up during the Great Depression and the second World War felt the need to turn to religion to find meaning in their lives, and while the novel didn't turn preachy, I was saddened to think that my mother would have rejected the book because of its mentions of religion and church, since she was an atheist. Anyway, this short volume packs a philosophical punch, and is by turns funny and sweet. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in end of life summations that don't drag or become pedantic. 

 

The Ruins Beneath Us by Sasha E. Sloan is a beautifully created novel with a gorgeous cover design and painted blue edges. It's a YA romantasy that has the whole "fish out of water" trope going for it, with little twists and turns that keep it interesting. Here's the blurb: She saved the prince. Now she must survive his world.

Lyria and her mother have been on the run from the human kingdom of Verdinae for as long as she can remember. She’s an elf born with magic—a double offence in a kingdom determined to eradicate both. Under her mother’s watchful protection, Lyria learns the rules that keep her alive: stay inside, stay hidden, stay safe, and above all stay calm, lest her magic flair out of control.

But when she finds a human boy being attacked by a deadly monster in the forest, Lyria risks everything by using magic to save him. She doesn’t expect his broken body to survive, and she definitely doesn’t expect him to be the crown prince.

Offered a position at the palace as the royal apothecary, Lyria seizes the chance to step into the light and prove to her mother she can control her unwieldly magic. But Verdinae is not the paradise it at first seems. The nobles are ruthless, the secrets are deadly, and Cygnus—the brooding royal healer—seems determined to expose Lyria’s every flaw. As she navigates a world of glittering gowns, deadly secrets, and stolen kisses, Lyria must keep her identity hidden. . . even from the prince who’s falling for her.

But beneath the palace lies a darkness far more dangerous than any secret. And when Lyria and Cygnus uncover a hidden world that could change everything, she must decide who to trust and how much she’s willing to risk for a love that was never meant to be. 

Its always interesting to me how the young men in YA romantic fiction are nearly always jerks who treat the female protagonist like dirt, yet she falls for them anyway. Ugh. I just don't buy the "he's too hot to resist" trope in these books, and how "love" seems to conquer all the evildoings of the male characters, because the female protagonist is suddenly a spineless weakling due to her burgeoning feelings for the guys (there's usually a love triangle). I refuse to believe that young woman can't be in control of their hormones or feelings, and therefore they get dragged into whatever drama the guy or guys have going on. Still, there were a number of unexpected turns in the plot that kept the story fresh. I'd give it a B- and recommend it to anyone who is enchanted with healers and elves.

 

Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson is at once a courtroom drama a Southern thriller that is well written and expertly plotted. Its un-put-downable, and yet manages to keep the reader fascinated from the first chapter to the last. Here's the blurb: Academy Award winning actress Viola Davis and the world's #1 bestselling author James Patterson’s Judge Stone “delivers first-class courtroom drama, small-town excitement, and strong characters all wrapped in a moral dilemma. Tense, readable, and relevant.” (Kirkus Reviews)
All rise... for Judge Stone.

The most respected citizen in Union Springs, Alabama (population 3,314), is Judge Mary Stone. She holds two responsibilities sacred: running her family farm and presiding over her courtroom. It's there she draws the most controversial case in the history of the South.

Criminally, it’s open-and-shut.

Ethically, there is no middle ground. Essentially, it’s a choice between life and death.
 
No judge can satisfy everyone. It would be dangerous to try. But Judge Stone is willing to fight to bring justice to the people and place she loves.

 I've been a fan of Viola Davis since her star turn on How to Get Away With Murder. She's one of those adaptable actresses who can enact Shakespeare and then go on to working in a blockbuster movie without batting an eyelash. Who knew she was also a talented writer? This novel has a ton of racial trauma and tension, as well as showing the profound misogyny toward female judges in the South (especially women of color). There's also (SPOILER) a inspection of how women/girls who are raped are mistreated by the system, and how the misogynistic laws against abortion, even in instances of rape and incest, are deadly for young women in the South, who often don't have anywhere to turn after sexual abuse when they become pregnant. Having been through something similar, Judge Stone is able to walk the tightrope between racism/sexism and justice for the abortion doctor and the 13 year old girl who had the abortion after being gang raped. This is a book that will definitely make you think, no matter what side of the argument you're on. The ending was splendid, and the book itself a page-turner. I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to anyone who likes courtroom drama and stories that deal with racial justice for women.

 

The House of Hidden Letters by Izzy Broom is a historical women's fiction novel that allows for the middle-aged female protagonist to grow and change when she moves to a Greek Island to escape her nasty narcissist husband and her awful mother. Here's the blurb: A beautiful and escapist novel full of heart, for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and readers who love book club fiction.

For sale: Greek cottage. One euro.

Skye MacKinnon is desperate for an escape. When she wins a lottery to buy a run-down cottage on a Greek island for only one euro, Skye jumps at the chance to get out of England and start over. As she unlocks the tattered blue door of her whitewashed new cottage, the sun-kissed sea glinting in the bay outside her windows, Skye immediately feels like she’s found her true home.

Skye and the other lottery winners—the first residents in these houses since the 1940s—form a tight-knit group, finding in one another the strong relationships they’d been missing in their own lives. When Skye and local contractor Andreas find a set of mysterious letters, they begin to unravel the history of the prior residents, and the truth about life on Folegandros during World War II.

Sweeping, escapist, and full of heart, The House of Hidden Letters reminds us of the importance of human connection. Izzy Broom has written a poignant and hopeful novel for those who have found love and family in unexpected places.

 

I loved the fact that Skye was able to find the gumption to leave her horrible husband and escape to start her own life in Greece, but when confronted with her husband's return, she regresses into a childish coward who relies on the man that she met on the Island (who is renovating her cottage) to make sure her soon to be ex doesn't steal her away and enslave her again. I wanted her to save herself (she's middle aged, for crying out loud! Grow a spine!) and to tell the people from her old life to f-off so she can begin her life anew. I enjoyed the letters that she found and the story that unfolded from those, but that whole scenario seemed just a bit too convenient. Still, it was an interesting novel, with decent prose and a plot that had a few holes and moved along at a sedate pace, but was still worth it, in the end. I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to any woman who seeks to escape an untenable situation and start her life over.

 

Gorgon With the Wind by Devon Monk was a funny and fascinating cozy fantasy novel by the author of the Ordinary Oregon series, which I've read and enjoyed tremendously. Here's the blurb: A hilarious, cozy, magic-packed whodunit by Devon Monk

Come for the wacky festivals…stay for the murders…

Medusa, (yes, that Medusa) is done with heroes and heartache. From now on, her life is going to be filled with plenty of books, tea, and solitude. But when an unexpected favor takes her to Ordinary, Oregon—the quirky little beach town with vacationing gods, a bossy Valkyrie, and a book club run by Death—she quickly discovers the town might have a slight murder problem.

Accused of killing a local, Medusa teams up with her new friends—Jules, a witch who’s lost her way, and Piper, a psychic unsure of her powers—to clear her name.

But with time running out, it’s going to take all of their wits, will, and magic to find the killer before the festival crowds fade away, taking the clues and the killer with them.

Though it's short, this book packs a lot of mystery and fun inbetween its covers. I read it all in one sitting, which isn't unusual for books by Devon Monk (I've read all of her series, except for the hockey stories), but here some of my favorite characters from Ordinary, including Thannos the god of Death and the Delaney sisters make an appearance and help solve the crime that poor Medusa is accused of committing. It was fun to get a POV of a gorgon who can turn people or animals to stone with a look (but doesn't want to, and wears hats to cover her head of snakes and glasses to keep her eyes from turning everyone she meets into a statue), while still understanding her need to relocate to somewhere isolated where she won't have to hide her "curse" 24/7. Monk's prose is bouncy and her plots sizzle with excitement. I'd give this short but sassy ebook an A, and recommend it to anyone seeking a fresh take on classic myths.