Coraline, the Opera,Vieira Hosts Great American Read, The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, The Radium Girls by Kate Moore and Better Read Than Dead/Sense of Deception by Victoria Laurie

On Stage: Coraline, the Opera

In the 16 years since it was published, Neil Gaiman's Coraline

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36490576

"has developed a passionate fan base, selling more than a million

copies" and been adapted as a stop-motion movie, video game, comic book

and Off Broadway musical. The latest addition to this list is the Royal

Opera's avant garde adaptation

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36490577, with

Aletta Collins directing an "angular, complex score" score by

Mark-Anthony Turnage for Rory Mullarkey's libretto, the New York Times

reported. The production will be staged at the Barbican in London, March

29 to April 7.

Noting that Coraline "is more than a match for operatic heroines like

Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio or Rosina from Rossini's The Barber of

Seville," the Times wrote that the role is shared in the new production

by the sopranos Mary Bevan and Robyn Allegra Parton.

"She's such a strong female character," Turnage said. "She's powerful;

she's going to solve these things. I've got a seven-year-old daughter.

She's too young to read the book, but she saw the film, and she was very

taken with Coraline." He added that he hopes the audiences for the opera

will come from all walks of life: "A lot of opera directors are making

opera for other opera directors, and quite a few opera composers are

writing for their peer group."

Gaiman told the Guardian

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36490578

he is not concerned with the cutting and condensing of Coraline required

for the stage: "Everything changes when you move from medium to medium.

Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes you sigh, sometimes you urged it to

happen."

The opera is being advertised as suitable for audiences eight or older.

Asked if it was any easier producing work for children, Gaiman replied:

"It's harder, and you need to be more aware of what you're doing. Adults

are more forgiving and more willing to put up with being bored than

children are."

Meredith Vieira to Host PBS' The Great American Read 

Television personality and journalist Meredith Vieira

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36530093

will host The Great American Read

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36530094, a previously

announced eight-part TV series

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36530095 launching

May 22 on PBS stations with a two-hour special event. Vieira will take

viewers on a journey across the country to uncover the nation's 100

most-loved novels, the people who love them and their authors. As host

of the series, she "will tie together the overarching themes of our

national love of literature and guide viewers on a search to discover

America's best-loved book," PBS said.

"It is a privilege to partner with PBS to bring The Great American Read

to viewers across the country," said Vieira, who is known for co-hosting

NBC News' Today and serving as moderator of ABC's The View. "The power

of reading is extraordinary--it allows us to escape to new worlds,

introduces us to a diverse range of people, opens our minds to different

ideas, and allows us to keep learning no matter our age or background.

The Great American Read offers a forum for readers to express what

titles and stories they're passionate about and share how novels

impacted their lives. I am honored to be a part of this discussion."

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce was a highly anticipated novel, since her "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" was a bestseller and popular with book groups. I am sure that there are a number of people who will fall in love with this novel, which follows the same trajectory as the "Pilgrimage," with weird characters who are reclusive and shy and have a passion for things no one else cares about. I was drawn in, initially, by the main character, a record store owner who seemed to have had a horrible childhood with a bizarre mother who refused to parent him, insisting that they been seen as "equals" and that her son, Frank, call her "Peg." I liked Franks depth of joy for all sorts of music, and how he describes songs to Ilsa is almost magical. However, as the novel progresses, I became more impatient with Franks inability to get over his mother's cruelty and develop a relationship, just as I became impatient with Ilsa, who had an equally bizarre manner of introducing herself to Frank, by fainting in front of his record shop. Here's the blurb: It is 1988. On a dead-end street in a run-down suburb there is a music shop that stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. Like a beacon, the shop attracts the lonely, the sleepless, and the adrift; Frank, the shop’s owner, has a way of connecting his customers with just the piece of music they need. Then, one day, into his shop comes a beautiful young woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who asks Frank to teach her about music. Terrified of real closeness, Frank feels compelled to turn and run, yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems, and Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen, as well as a past it seems he will never leave behind. Can a man who is so in tune with other people’s needs be so incapable of connecting with the one person who might save him? The journey that these two quirky, wonderful characters make in order to overcome their emotional baggage speaks to the healing power of music—and love—in this poignant, ultimately joyful work of fiction.

Kit, the shop's "assistant manager" is a total mess of a young man, who breaks everything he touches and seems to be none to bright to boot. Somehow, we are supposed to see him and his destructive behavior as charming, though he eventually burns down Franks store. Why Frank keeps this stupid teenager (I assume he's a teenager) on, when it would behoove him to tell Kit to shove off, to go home and care for his elderly parents, is beyond understanding. Just because someone is blindly enthusiastic and optimistic, in a non realistic manner, doesn't make them a good employee. At any rate, I wanted to shove Kit off a bridge after about 50 pages of the novel. I was also not a fan of Maud, the tattoo parlor gal, who nurses a crush on Frank and seems eternally pissed off. Her foul mouth and rude behavior seemed totally inappropriate, and she never seemed to cotton to the reality that Frank didn't find her attractive or interesting in terms of a dating relationship. But, in the end, Joyce pulls a flash mob rabbit out of the hat and sets everything right for a too-fast HEA. Though the prose was good, the plot had some potholes that made me want to give this book a B-, and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of music on vinyl. 

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is April's book for my library book group. A work of non fiction, this book tells the story of the girls who painted watch and clock faces with radium, a radioactive substance, during the latter years of World War 1 all the way into the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression. Here's the blurb:

The incredible true story of the women who fought America's Undark danger
The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.
Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.
But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come.Publisher's Weekly: British ghostwriter Moore traces the lives of more than a dozen American women who were employed as luminous watch-dial painters as early as 1917. She tells how these women, some barely in their 20s, were enchanted by high pay and the allure of the paint’s luminescent substance: radium. Carefully researched, the work will stun readers with its descriptions of the glittering artisans who, oblivious to health dangers, twirled camel-hair brushes to fine points using their mouths, a technique called lip-pointing. By the end of 1918, one out of six American soldiers owned a luminous watch, but the women had begun losing their teeth and entire pieces of their jaws. Moore describes the gruesome effects of radiation exposure on these women’s bodies, and she spares nothing in relaying the intense emotional suffering of their friends and families during subsequent medical investigations and court battles. In giving voice to so many victims, Moore overburdens the story line, which culminates with a 1938 headline trial during which a former employee of the Radium Dial Company collapsed on the stand and had to testify from bed. Moore details what was a “ground-breaking, law-changing, and life-saving accomplishment” for worker’s rights; it lends an emotionally charged ending to a long, sad book.

I agree with PW that the storyline of this book is overburdened with redundancy and often melodramatic excerpts from lawyers speeches and newspaper articles that reek of yellow, sensationalized journalism. These melodramatic moments provide unexpected levity in an otherwise gruesome and boring book. The constant descriptions of the effect radiation has on the mouth, teeth, bones and organs of otherwise healthy young women's bodies were horrific and, after awhile, redundant and depressing, as readers know that these women are going to die in pain, with little or no help from the company that made them sick. While it is important that we learn from these court cases, and that we honor and remember these young women whose lives were thrown away so carelessly by these dial companies, I felt that the book could have been edited down by at least 100 pages and still have gotten the point across. The prose was similar to long form journalism, so it read like a serial piece for a newspaper. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about worker's rights and compensations and the origins of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. 

Better Read Than Dead and Sense of Deception by Victoria Laurie are two MM paperback paranormal mysteries that I picked up for a song at The Sequel bookstore in Enumclaw. Better Read Than Dead is the second novel in the series, and does a decent job of introducing our psychic heroine, Abby Cooper. Sense of Deception is at the other end of the list, having come out in 2015, so Cooper is married to a hot FBI agent that she's only dating in the second book. Here's the blurbs: BN.com, Abby's not a private investigator; she's a psychic intuitive who works with a crew of spirit guides to foretell the future. And it's crystal clear that Abby's in for plenty of trouble in Better Read than Dead. A favor for a friend has landed her at a Mob-connected wedding, where she finds herself reading tarot for a hit man! Now the father of the bride has made Abby an offer she can't refuse -- an offer that's interfering with both her personal life and her professional efforts to aid the police in their search for a violent rapist. Can she balance the psychic scales and see her way clear to a future where justice prevails? This outing by author Victoria Laurie (herself a psychic who has assisted in criminal investigations) indicates a long and happy future for Abby Cooper. 

Sense of Deception: In New York Times bestselling author Victoria Laurie’s thirteenth Psychic Eye Mystery, Abby Cooper senses a convicted killer is innocent, but she’ll need hard evidence to save the woman before it’s too late… 

A ticked-off judge has tossed Abby in the slammer for contempt of court, and during her brief but unpleasant stay she learns the story of a condemned woman who is confronting a far more serious sentence. Skyler Miller has been found guilty of murder and faces the death penalty. Everyone believes she’s guilty, including her own family and her ex-husband—everyone, that is, except Abby, whose finely honed intuition tells her this woman doesn’t belong behind bars.
With the help of her husband Dutch and her friend Candice, Abby launches into her own investigation to clear Skyler and find the real killer. But after a final appeal is denied and Skyler’s attorney scrambles for a stay of execution, time is running short—and the list of suspects keeps growing. There’s no margin for error as the life of an innocent woman hangs in the balance. . . .

I was actually surprised by the smooth and elegant prose Laurie uses to create her cheeky and fun characters, as well as keeping her fast-moving plots going. These two books were like hot buttered popcorn at a movie...delicious and the perfect addition to a days entertainment. I devoured both within an afternoon, and was left wanting more. Abby is smart, but often comes off as a bit of a naive optimist and her reactions are often immature when she doesn't get what she wants. Still, I liked Abby and her friends and boyfriend, and I would like to read more books in the series. I'd give these two an A, and recommend them to anyone who wants some light and fun reading that will distract them from the world around them for awhile.

25 Fantastic Libraries, Best UK Bookstores, The Girl Who Wouldn't Die by Randall Platt, Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman, A Vicky Hill Exclusive! by Hannah Dennison and Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta

25 Libraries Every Voracious Reader Must Absolutely Visit

"Hey there, I just found you your next vacation spots," Buzzfeed noted

in showcasing "25 libraries every voracious reader must absolutely visit

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36432434."

The 39 Best Independent Bookshops in the U.K. & Ireland

"What makes a good bookshop?" asked the i Paper in showcasing its picks

for "the 39 best independent bookshops in the U.K. and Ireland

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36460190."

"The best bookshops combine an understanding of their customers with the

knowledge to supply the right read at the right time," the i Paper

wrote. "The best bookshops put the theatre in retail, and the ker-ching

in browsing. The bookshops shortlisted for the British Book Awards

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36460191 have

one thing in common: they are all growing their businesses in a market

that is flat, and difficult....  

"The 39 independent bookshops that feature here thrive by making their

shops centers of discussion, venues for book launches, oases for

authors, and the home for themed events (Harry Potter evening anyone?).

They are active participants in their communities, forging links with

schools, libraries and other local institutions and providing space for

book readers to gather. Many run coffee shops, some sell ice-cream, and

others even have a drinks license....  And, of course, part of these

shops' charm is their individuality--catering for local interests with

local decision making, supporting local writers and handselling books

that appeal to repeat customers."

The Girl Who Wouldn't Die by Randall Platt  was an impulse buy from a recent visit to The Sequel, a lovely little bookstore in Enumclaw. This past week they were having a "Shop Hop" because Easter is coming up, and all the local stores were sporting signs and special discounts. I was fresh from having my Remicade infusion (for Crohns Disease) at St Elizabeth's Hospital, and my wonderful son thought we should make a stop at the only bookstore within 25 miles, because he knows how much I enjoy rooting around a bookstore for bargain books. This particular hardback was shelved in the New (instead of Used) section, and I think it might be considered a YA book, though it certainly doesn't read like a typical YA novel at all. This is the story of a young woman who dressed as a boy during the occupation of Poland and who was known to run with a street gang under the name of the Arab of Warsaw. Here is the blurb:

It’s 1939 in Poland, and Arab knows that standing up for anyone—especially her Jewish family—only paints a target on her back. So she plans to survive the Nazi occupation the way she always has: disguise herself as an Aryan boy, lead her street gang, and sell whatever she can steal.
But though Arab starts the war with the one goal of staying alive, others have different ideas for her. When a stranger asks for her help with a covert rescue mission, Arab has to make a choice. Trying to be a hero is a surefire way to get killed. But if she doesn’t do it, who will?
Hard-hitting and unforgettable, The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die is a story about survival, the necessity of resistance, and the hope that can be found when the world is at its darkest.

The prose is taut as a bowstring and the plot moves at lightening speed in this page turner of a novel that I just could not put down. I loved Arab and her fierce determination and street smarts in dealings with all the Nazis overrunning her home town and killing all of the Jewish people she's grown up with. She is so determined in the face of such long and terrible odds that I couldn't help but admire her. Unfortunately, we never find out what happened to her, in the end, only that she helped a number of Jewish children get out of Poland and to safety. Other than the open-ended final pages, this was a nearly-perfect novel that I can't give anything but an A to, and recommend it to anyone who wants to read a unique POV of WWII in occupied Poland.

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman was also a WWII story, this time set in Hawaii in the year 1944, well after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The characters and the setting are exotic enough that this could have been a great read. Instead, the prose was stilted and awkward, the characters stereotypical and the plot plodding and predictable. One of the protagonists, Ella, daughter of what I ended up calling "wilting Violet," is a real mess of a child who wets herself, picks scabs on her skin and pulls out her hair because she's incapable of telling her mother about the man who shot and killed her father. Ella has no courage, and is spoiled by her wimpy mother who can't say no to her, no matter how ridiculous her daughter's demands may be. And Violet is always whining or worried or feeling guilt about something, enough so that it's annoying and boring. I also wanted to smack Ella about every 10 minutes in the book, and I found her chapters to be stupid and dull. I nearly quit reading the book before I finished the first 100 pages, but I figured it might get better once Violet and her friends (who were more interesting and should have had more time in the spotlight) opened their pie stand at the military base. Sadly, it really didn't get better. Here's the blurb:

Hawaii, 1944. The Pacific battles of World War II continue to threaten American soil, and on the home front, the bonds of friendship and the strength of love are tested.
Violet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together one year after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties surface, Violet believes Ella knows something. But Ella is stubbornly silent. Something—or someone—has scared her. And with the island overrun by troops training for a secret mission, tension and suspicion between neighbors is rising.
Violet bands together with her close friends to get through the difficult days. To support themselves, they open a pie stand near the military base, offering the soldiers a little homemade comfort. Try as she might, Violet can’t ignore her attraction to the brash marine who comes to her aid when the women are accused of spying. Desperate to discover the truth behind what happened to her husband, while keeping her friends and daughter safe, Violet is torn by guilt, fear and longing as she faces losing everything. Again.

Though there is an inevitable HEA, getting there is tortuous for anyone who enjoys well written characters and elegant prose. I'd give this book a C-, and only recommend it to those who wonder what life in Hawaii was like during the last years of the WWII.

A Vicky Hill Exclusive! by Hannah Dennison was a cheap paperback British mystery that I found at the Sequel and couldn't pass up for the price. It reads like a combination of Monty Python, The Office and Scooby Doo, with a dash of yellow journalism thrown in for good measure. The protagonist, Vicky Hill, is utterly ridiculous, a reporter who yearns for a cheesy headline as some long for chocolate. The farce aspect of the book only gets worse from there, as Vicky tries to solve a mystery and manages to make nearly everyone in town loathe her, with the exception of "Topaz" (not her real name, of course) who seems to long for a lesbian relationship with Vicky, and longs for her job in equal measure. Here's the blurb: Vicky Hill has two goals in life: to escape the never-ending boredom of funeral reporting and find the right man. Then a tip leads to what might be the scoop of a lifetime. There is a bizarre connection between three grisly chicken corpses and the unusual death of a local hedge-jumping enthusiast Sir Hugh Trewallyn. Suddenly, it seems that this quiet market town harbours more than its fair share of secrets but when Vicky opens Gipping's Pandora's box, her own secrets come back to haunt her...

If Vicky's gullibility and naive nature don't put you off, her clumsy efforts to solve the mystery by blundering around town will. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, to be honest, as I was unaware that British tabloids were this sexually charged and that editors and lead reporters were intent on sexually harassing and abusing every woman in their employ. Of course, like most idiots in British fiction, Vicky manages to come out of all this smelling like a rose, so all is well that ends well. Still, the prose was cheesy and the plot meandering, and though its a fast read, I didn't really like the characters enough to want to read more. Stupid people do not inspire me, and this book is full of ridiculous, stupid people and very sexist, creepy men. I'd give it a C, and only recommend it to those who love cozy mysteries enough to laugh at the bizarre foibles of Vicky Hill (and those who don't mind excessive use of exclamation points).

Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta is a new fantasy YA series that I gathered was supposed to be different, as in more inclusive of people of color and gender differences. While the former proved to be true, the latter wasn't. This was, however, a well written novel that has a brilliant, swift plot and mesmerizing characters developed in a unique world. Here's the blurb:

To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.
Faris grew up fighting to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne.
Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance—magic that addicts in the war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverages Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything—or kill anyone—she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own.
With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed—or saved—with only a touch. Publisher's Weekly: Taranta’s debut features a tough-as-nails heroine, a complicated magic system, and a gritty fantasy world full of menace and wonder. Despite the threat of plague in surrounding Avinea, 16-year-old Faris Locke longs to escape the walled city of Brindaigel and the brutality of King Perrotte. After Faris, her sister Cadence, and her beloved Thaelan are caught attempting to flee, Cadence is sold into slavery, Thaelan is hanged, and Faris is forced to brawl for money in hopes of buying Cadence’s freedom. When the king’s executioner offers Faris a job, she can’t refuse, but she’ll be bound by magic to Princess Bryn, who is determined to take her father’s throne. After escaping to Avinea through the sewers, Faris and Bryn meet a magician named North and his apprentice, who are determined to stop the plague and save Avinea. In a crowded fantasy field, Taranta’s story stands out for its mature writing, inventive and scary creatures (and even scarier humans), and complex and often ruthless characters. The conclusion suggests that Faris’s adventures are only getting started.

I agree with PW that the prose here is mature and the characters well defined, ie the bad people are really awful and the good people are really wonderful. That said, I felt that Faris' sister Cadence wasn't really worth all the fuss, as she didn't listen to her sister or to reason, and seemed to think it was okay to worship the guardsmen while treating her sister like crap. But, as with most heroines in YA novels, Faris has no decent parents to rely on (her father is a drunken loser who sells her out without a second thought, and her mother tried to kill her when she was still prepubescent), so the only real family she has left is this one bratty sibling who has become an enchanted mindless slave. My only other problem is that Faris treats her "desire" for North as something that is all consuming, imperative, and necessary, when there are women who have survived without sex, desire or love for a long time. Because she is strong, she is able to walk away from him (because she knows that the infection of bad magic will kill both of them if she doesn't) but it is a near thing, and that kind of melodramatic passion seems somewhat out of place in this "gritty" world with its cruel take on magic that kills just as often as it proves useful. Still, I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Victoria Aveyard's YA series, the Hunger Games or Divergent series. The same self-sacrificing, strong young woman reigns supreme here.

Kitlitwomen Initiative, RIP Stephen Hawking, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine, and Ink, Iron and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare

It's about time! This is a great initiative that is asking that people encourage female children's lit authors, and encourage women and men to write inclusive books with people of color and various genders in them, so that children don't just have a selection of books and fairy tales that are white and full of stereotypical male and female relationships and roles.

Kidlitwomen Initiative to Call Attention to Gender Inequality in Children's Literature.

In the early days of 2018, children's author/illustrator Grace Lin

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36354680 sat with

a group of women colleagues and had a "conversation fueled by passion,

anger, and heartbreak, but most of all by injustice." The concern was

about the industry itself: "our children's literature community, a

community that preaches to children about kindness and fairness, is

egregiously not fair," she said in an open letter. Lin's letter asks,

"Have you treated a male author as a 'rock star?' Have you declined a

'girl' book for your son or ignored an older woman? Have you minimized

the concerns of a woman of color? What have you done or encouraged or

defended that you feel uncomfortable about?" These questions, she hopes,

will encourage conversation. And to help this discussion along, she and

author Karen Blumenthal

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36354681 launched

the #kidlitwomen initiative on March 1, to coincide with Women's History

Month.

The intent is to use social media as a public forum to call "attention

to the gender inequities of the children's literature community,

uplifting those who have not received their due, and finding solutions

to reach equality for all." With more than 3,000 followers on their

Facebook page http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36354682, the project

consists of a series of pieces by women in the children's literature

industry, all posted either directly on the #kidlitwomen Facebook page

or to the author and/or illustrator's own website and compiled on the

Facebook page. 

RIP Stephen Hawking, who lived an extraordinary life, and a long life, despite having ALS, which was supposed to kill him after two years. He defied expectations and made the world a better place with his brilliant mind.

Obituary Note: Stephen W. Hawking

Stephen W. Hawking

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36354695,

the Cambridge University physicist and bestselling author "who roamed

the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the

origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and

curiosity," died early this morning, the New York Times reported. He was

76.

"What a triumph his life has been," said Martin Rees, a Cambridge

University cosmologist, the astronomer royal of Britain and Hawking's

longtime colleague. "His name will live in the annals of science;

millions have had their cosmic horizons widened by his bestselling

books; and even more, around the world, have been inspired by a unique

example of achievement against all the odds--a manifestation of amazing

willpower and determination."

Hawking's landmark book, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to

Black Holes (1988), has sold more than 10 million copies, and inspired a

documentary film by Errol Morris as well as the Oscar-winning movie The

Theory of Everything.

"Scientifically, Dr. Hawking will be best remembered for a discovery so

strange that it might be expressed in the form of a Zen koan: When is a

black hole not black? When it explodes," the Times wrote, adding that

his career defied the odds in that as a graduate student in 1963, he

learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was given only a few

years to live. Despite this, he "went on to become his generation's

leader in exploring gravity and the properties of black holes, the

bottomless gravitational pits so deep and dense that not even light can

escape them."

Dr. Hawking's other books include The Grand Design (with Leonard

Mlodinow); The Universe in a Nutshell; The Nature of Space and Time

(with Roger Penrose); the George's Secret Key children's book series

(with Lucy Hawking); Black Holes and Baby Universes; An Illustrated

Brief History of Time; A Briefer History of Time (Bantam Press, 2005);

and his memoir, My Brief History.

Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld, told the Bookseller

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36354696:

"It is truly our privilege to have been Stephen Hawking's publisher for

the last three decades. He has increased the popular understanding of

scientific theory like no-one else since Einstein. Not only was he one

of the world's greatest thinkers, he was also a man with an infectious

sense of mischief and wit."

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a surprisingly delightful book that I read in one sitting. Though it's fiction, the main character reminded me of the scandalous marriages of the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, and of so many of the other Hollywood stars of the "golden era" when studios created classic movies and starlets feared the gossip columnists of the day, who could make or break their careers. The story follows the movie career of actress Evelyn Hugo (whose real last name is Herrera, as she's Cuban, but can pass as white), who marries one man after another to gain influence and eventually to cover up her bisexuality and love of her fellow starlet Cecelia St James. Here's the blurb: 

“The epic adventures Evelyn creates over the course of a lifetime will leave every reader mesmerized. This wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet and her tumultuous Tinseltown journey comes with unexpected twists and the most satisfying of drama.” —PopSugar
In this entrancing novel “that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all” (Kirkus Reviews), a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jump start her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
“Heartbreaking, yet beautiful” (Jamie Blynn, Us Weekly), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is “Tinseltown drama at its finest” (Redbook): a mesmerizing journey through the splendor of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means—and what it costs—to face the truth.

As a former veteran print journalist, I really empathized with Monique and her excitement in being granted access to this glamorous star and her exclusive story. The twist at the end (which I won't spoil for you) can be seen coming by a bit over halfway through the book, and yet it will still sent a shiver down my spine. This is a testament to Reid's finely honed prose and excellent plot, as well as her beautifully-drawn characters who lead readers to a satisfying conclusion. I'd give this page-turner an A, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in classic movies and movie stars.

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine was a book that I picked up because it was about a bibliophile who loves to read and translate books from English and French into Arabic. Because Aaliya lives in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, she has come to live the "life of the mind" where she withdraws from society and even the women in her building and focuses instead on the books that she reads and the characters inhabiting them. Though Aaliya is a sour, bitter and reclusive person who almost comes off as a misanthrope, I found her life and her discussions of books and authors to be fascinating, if more than a bit cynical and mean. For example, she dismisses nearly all of American literature written by women as whiny and vapid, with their characters only problems being "a malodorous vagina." This hasn't been even close to my experience of American women's lit, of course, but when Aaliya talks about the dull and horrid novels of Hemingway, and notes that Hills Like White Elephants (a short story) may be the only exception to that rule, I found myself nodding along and agreeing with her. I also agreed that Faulkner is by far the better writer of the two, though I also felt that Fitzgerald was a better writer as well. Here's the blurb: An Unnecessary Woman is a breathtaking portrait of one reclusive woman’s late-life crisis, which garnered a wave of rave reviews and love letters to Alameddine’s cranky yet charming septuagenarian protagonist, Aaliya, a character you “can’t help but love” (NPR). Aaliya’s insightful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and her volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left. Here, the gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of one woman's life in the Middle East and an enduring ode to literature and its power to define who we are.

“[A] powerful intellectual portrait of a reader who is misread….a meditation on being and literature, written by someone with a passionate love of language and the power of words to compose interior worlds. It’s about how, and by what means, we survive. About how, in the end, what is hollow and unneeded becomes full, essential and enduring.”—Earl Pike, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Though I found Aaliya to be nearly autistic in her fear of dealing with people, especially her horrible mother (who wanted nothing to do with her as a child, and then screams in fear/anger when Aaliya's greasy half brother try to drop her mother off for her to care for now that she's ancient, has dementia and is in failing heath) and it seemed ridiculous to me that a woman in her 70s is unable to even share coffee with her neighbors, let alone deal with her mother, I still couldn't wait to see what she did next, and what would happen to her bookstore coworkers or others from her past. The prose is somewhat uneven, but the plot is strong and well formed. I would give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in a middle eastern bibliophile's view of the world. 

Ink, Iron and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare is a YA steampunk fantasy that has a very interesting science fiction premise of what would happen if you could write worlds (and people) into being a reality? I have to note that the main character is a person of color and an "Islander" and that people of different colors and sexual orientation are part of this book, which I think is wonderful. Intersectionality is long overdue in YA Literature. At any rate, I was fascinated by the books that allow you to 'script' a world into being, and the intricate worlds that were wrought by the main character's mother...it reminded me of computer program developers and game creators who write computer scripts that bring worlds into being on the computer screen. I often wonder how long it will be before we have an artificial intelligence who creates a world and people who can cross over into our reality and live a "real" life. Here's the blurb:

Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother—a noted scriptologist—constantly alters and expands their reality.
But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
In debut author Gwendolyn Clare's thrilling Ink, Iron, and Glass, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created—and only she can stop it. Kirkus Reviews: Elsa's homeland can't be located on a map: Veldana and its people exist as a result of scriptology, a craft whose practitioners can scribe new lands into existence. Veldana is the creation of a white Frenchman, but Elsa's mother, a Veldanese master scriptologist, advocated for her people's autonomy and is now the fabricated world's caretaker. (Among other colonialist acts, the creator scribed pregnancies against the brown-skinned Veldanese women's will.) The dark-skinned, green-eyed, 16-year-old Elsa, also a brilliant scriptologist, will one day proudly inherit the responsibility. When her mother is abducted, Elsa leaves Veldana for Earth—the real world—to find help. Events lead her to a yet-to-be-unified Italy, where she finds herself a resident of the Casa della Pazzia ("House of the Madness"), a sentient residence for orphan pazzerellone, or "mad scientists." Each student possesses one of three "madnesses": alchemy, mechanics, or scriptology. There, the fiercely independent Elsa reluctantly finds allies: olive-skinned Italians Leo and Porzia and brown-skinned Tunisian Faraz. As the four get closer to finding Elsa's mother and learning the reason for her capture, they discover an enemy who will stop at nothing to use scriptology as a weapon to "edit" the Earth. This debut novel is fully realized steampunk-fantasy, offering an alternate history that deftly and creatively adopts the politics of 19th-century Italy to create a compellingly unique world. Although the book uses the language of mental illness to describe its characters' specific magical talents, in this world "mad" seems to carry none of the baggage it does in ours. Exciting and original.

I agree that this book is exciting and original, however, I felt that Elsa was too easily cowed and fell in love with Leo, who is a loud, entitled and obnoxious jerk, when he and his fragile male ego should have been sent packing. Instead, all sorts of allowances are made for him because of his ego and macho attitude, which weakens the empowering of women/girls theme that the author sets up. Also, Leo's family are liars, traitors and assassins, so we are left with him betraying all the people who have loved and raised and helped him for a majority of his life. I couldn't feel any compassion for such a person, though I know as Elsa's love interest, we are supposed to believe that he did everything to protect her from his evil mafia family. I am sure more will come to light in the second book, which I plan on reading. The prose was good, if a tad syrupy, which lead to the plot being bogged down once or twice. Still, I'd give the book a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes YA Steampunk.

RIP Cynthia Heimel and Russ Solomon, B&N's Book Club, Upcoming books of note, Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza, Compulsion by Martha Boone and Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

RIP author Cynthia Heimel, whose books were very funny and ribald.

Obituary Note: Cynthia Heimel 

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36254071,

whose first book, Sex Tips for Girls, "established her in the early

1980s as a fearlessly funny writer about men, feminism, female

friendships, flirting, birth control and lingerie," died February 25,

the New York Times reported. She was 70. Heimel later adapted Sex Tips

and But Enough About You, a 1986 collection, into the play A Girl's

Guide to Chaos, which opened later that year off Broadway at the

American Place Theater.

"I used to say about Cynthia's writing, and her being, that she had the

soul of Janis Joplin in the voice of Hedda Hopper," said novelist and

comedy writer Emily Prager. "She was a voice for liberation with

manners, freedom without regret and the blues with a grain of salt."

Heimel published several more collections, including If You Can't Live

Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet? (1991), Get Your Tongue Out of My

Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye! (1993) and If You Leave Me, Can I Come

Too? (1995).

  

I think this is a great idea for Barnes and Noble, who have had to close a number of stores due to so many people buying books online. Still, there's nothing quite like a physical bookstore with real booksellers and customers who are one's fellow bibliophiles. If there were a B&N closer to me than 20 miles away in Issaquah, I would happily show up for the book club meeting and discussion. 

B&N Launches National Book Club

Barnes & Noble has launched the Barnes & Noble Book Club, a national

book club that will meet seasonally at the company's 632 stores to

discuss "some of the greatest books being published." The book club

meetings, all held on the same day, will be led by B&N booksellers and

feature "exclusive content and special in-store promotions for book club

members."

The book club's first pick is The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer,

which will be published by Riverhead Books on April 3. The B&N Book Club

meetings about the novel will be held on Wednesday, May 2, 6-7 p.m.,

local time.

Liz Harwell, director of merchandising, commented: "Meg Wolitzer's The

Interestings firmly established her as one of the most important writers

of our time, and The Female Persuasion further cements her importance

with a timely story about a young woman who meets a mentor that changes

her life. The Female Persuasion is a must read of the year."

B&N is offering customers an exclusive edition of the book that includes

a reading group guide and an essay by the author. Book Club participants

on May 2 will receive a free regular, tall, hot or iced coffee and one

free cookie from the café, and one signed copy of the book will

be given away. Customers are asked to sign up at the customer service

counter in store to participate.

On May 2, Wolitzer will appear at B&N's Upper West Side store in New

York City for a discussion, q&a and book signing.

Tower Record's Russ Solomon was an icon in the business and book/record world. I don't know of anyone my age or a decade younger who didn't visit Tower Records looking for a great album or a good book or two. RIP to this man who died in a great way.

Obituary Note: Russ Solomon

Russ Solomon, the charismatic, hard-driving, smart and funny founder and

longtime head of Tower Records and Tower Books, died on Sunday at age

92. He left in a way that seemed appropriate, which the Sacramento Bee

captured in the headline of its obituary

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36258970 yesterday:

"Founder of Tower Records dies at 92 while drinking whiskey and watching

the Oscars."

His son, Michael Solomon, told the Bee: "Ironically, he was giving his

opinion of what someone was wearing that he thought was ugly, then asked

[his wife] Patti to refill his whiskey. When she returned, he had died."

Tower Records were iconic stores, which began in Sacramento in 1960,

then spread across the country and around the world, with branches as

far away as London, Tokyo and Singapore. The stores sold some books, and

there were a few freestanding Tower Books locations. The company also

sold videos. At its height in the 1990s, the company had 200 stores and

sales of more than $1 billion a year.

As the Bee noted, Solomon was a retail pioneer and "operated on a

philosophy that was obvious to him but extraordinary for its day: Build

big stores and pack them with as much music as possible."

Unfortunately for Tower, in the early '90s, superstores then became the

rage in a variety of categories. In the book world, Borders and Barnes &

Noble expanded across the country. Then Amazon opened, and soon digital

downloading of music became popular. Tower, which had expanded rapidly

and had high debt, began to have serious problems. The company closed in

2006, although a few franchise operations continue in business

internationally.

All Things Must Pass http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz36258971, a

documentary by actor Colin Hanks about Tower that starred Solomon, was

released in 2015.

Famously in the Tower headquarters lobby, Solomon had a collection of

ties that he had cut off dressed-up visitors; attached to the ties were

the former owners' business cards.

 

And Megan Zusne wrote: "Thanks to Tower Records, to Russ Solomon, I

experienced a book career of a lifetime! And now, heavily involved in

the music business (and even living in a city and state that has never

had a Tower store), I carry a certain cachet, since EVERYONE seems to

have heard of Tower Records and its reputation as the hippest place to

work on the planet. Thank you, Russ Solomon."

I need a copy of this book, which I think I could have written, if I would have had the resources and stamina to do so.

Book Trailer of the Day: Surviving & Thriving With an Invisible Chronic Illness

Surviving & Thriving With an Invisible Chronic Illness: How to Stay Sane

and Live One Step Ahead of Your Symptoms http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz3628508 by Ilana Jacqueline (New Harbinger Publications).

My son and his friends are anxiously awaiting, as I am, the last book in the Kingkiller Chronicles, Doors of Stone, and it looks like the book might finally be on its way to publication! Hurrah!
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/07/patrick-rothfuss-kingkiller-chronicle-prologue-the-doors-of-stone-book-3/

Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza is the sequel to Empress of a Thousand Skies, which I believe I read last year. This book didn't move quite as fast as the first book, but it was still a good read, and it provided a nicely wrapped up ending for the conflicts begun with the first book. Here's the blurb:

War tears the galaxy apart, power tests the limits of family, and violence gives way to freedom in this exhilarating sequel to Empress of a Thousand Skies.
Empress
With a revolution brewing, Rhee is faced with a choice: make a deal with her enemy, Nero, or denounce him and risk losing her crown. 
Fugitive
Framed assassin Alyosha has one goal in mind: kill Nero. But to get his revenge, Aly may have to travel back to the very place he thought he’d left forever—home.
Princess
Kara knows that a single piece of technology located on the uninhabitable planet Wraeta may be the key to remembering—and erasing—the princess she once was.
Madman
Villainous media star Nero is out for blood, and he’ll go to any means necessary to control the galaxy.Vicious politics and high-stakes action culminate in an epic showdown that will determine the fate of the universe.

While the prose was nice and clean, the plot zigged and zagged more than once, and I felt it was dizzying and disjointed a couple of times. But I liked Kara and her journey, though I found both sisters to be a bit too much of martyrs and self-effacing to the point of ridiculousness (must heroines always hate themselves and doubt that they have any talent or value?). Aly, meanwhile, grew into a character whom I really enjoyed. So I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone who read the first book and wants to see who ends up on the throne.

Compulsion by Martha Boone is a rather odd YA novel that weaves Native American lore and civil war-era plantation stories into a tale of family feuds and Romeo and Juliet-style love triangles. Here's the blurb:

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead—a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family’s twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead. Publisher's Weekly: In Boone’s debut, an expansive Southern gothic tale, Barrie Watson is sent to live with her aunt Pru on Watson Island after Barrie’s shut-in mother, Lula, dies and her godfather is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Barrie was born with a “finding gift” that compels her to seek what is lost or left unsettled, and amid the Beaufort and Colesworth clans—the founding families of Watson Island, along with Barrie’s forebears—Barrie learns she isn’t the only one with a gift. Curses plague Watson Island, ghosts haunt its mansions, evil spirits live in its woods, and a frightening “Fire Carrier” emerges at night over its waters. Together, Barrie and a handsome Beaufort boy named Eight seek justice and to right old wrongs. Though the novel is grounded in the present day, there’s an old-fashioned quality to Boone’s dialogue and characters; she skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure, all while exploring the island and its accompanying legends. An impressive start to the Heirs of Watson Island series.

I really liked the fact that the characters in this book weren't all white heterosexual teenagers who were rich and spoiled, with fabulous parents. Barrie's godfather is a gay drag queen with impeccable taste and a wonderful wit, and the mansion she's staying in is falling apart. Meanwhile, her beau, Eight, is living a rich life that is still sterile to him, and the Colesworth heirs are impoverished and angry and truly awful, violent people. Barrie seems a bit too naive and willful, as she insists on letting herself be drawn into traps that everyone else could see miles away. Her needy whining about doing "anything" for family is almost pathological, as is her clinging to Eight as if he's the only boy in the universe whom she can ever love, when she's only just met him. Eight seemed like a creepy dweeb to me, someone who could read what any given person wants, and chooses to use his "gift" to get with as many young women as possible. And Barrie's Aunt Pru is just pathetic. Still, the book was a page turner, as Boone has a storytelling "gift" of her own. I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to anyone who likes folklore in their YA paranormal romances.

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce is the first book in a new YA series by the prolific fantasy author. I've read more than a few of Pierce's works, and I love the fact that she's always had strong female protagonists who refused to be pigeonholed into 'traditional' female roles. Pierce's protagonists are warriors, healers and leaders. Which is why I was so confounded by the young boy protagonist, Arram, and surprised that most of the women/girls played peripheral roles in the story. I understand wanting a middle eastern protagonist who isn't the usual white kid, but why, of the three main characters (who are in what amounts to magic/wizards school, just like Harry Potter) does the lone female, Varice, have to be so giggly and have her talents be mainly found in the kitchens, making food and mothering her two male cohorts, Arram and Ozorne? She's even described in a stereotypical sexist fashion, with Arram drooling over her "curves" and her beauty, and longing to kiss her, even before he's 12 years old (apparently puberty comes very early in this world). The description of Arram's errections as a prepubescent child, were nauseatingly pedophilic, and totally inappropriate. Why sexualize such a young character?  Though he's a prodigy with his magic, he's also insufferably arrogant and immature, and more than once he whines about having to basically take orders from his female teachers, one of whom ends up dead. Here's a blurb:

Arram Draper is on the path to becoming one of the realm's most powerful mages. The youngest student in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he has a Gift with unlimited potential for greatness—and for attracting trouble. At his side are his two best friends: Varice, a clever girl with an often-overlooked talent, and Ozorne, the "leftover prince" with secret ambitions. Together, these three friends forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms. And as Ozorne gets closer to the throne and Varice gets closer to Arram's heart, Arram realizes that one day—soon—he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie. In the Numair Chronicles, readers will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom's future rests on the shoulders of a talented young man with a knack for making vicious enemies. Publisher's Weekly: In the intriguing first book of Pierce’s Numair Chronicles, set in the medieval fantasy world of her Tortall books, she provides an in-depth look into the magical education and youth of Arram Draper, who later becomes the powerful mage Numair Salmalín. At age 10, Arram is the youngest mage in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak. His raw talent or Gift is enormous and difficult for him to control; it both gets him into trouble and gets him noticed. He quickly makes friends with his roommate, prince Ozorne Tasikhe, and the lovely and kind Varice Kingsford. Although Pierce touches on weighty subjects including slavery and the environment, they’re balanced by the relatively lighthearted adventures of Arram and his new friends. She makes the most of the university setting, hinting at possible conflict ahead by way of Ozorne’s wish to avenge his father’s death.

I really didn't like Arram, and I wasn't too fond of his manic depressive prince friend Ozone, either. Neither seemed like they had much in the way of compassion or intellect when it came to slaves or women, as they were focused on themselves. And Varice, as I've said previously, comes across as vapid and boy crazy, interested mostly in her clothing, how she looked and in flirting and being girly. I was so disappointed by this portrayal of the few women in the book, that I nearly wept. I was also somewhat disappointed by the rough road of a plot, not smoothed at all by the often disjointed prose. This is not the Tamora Pierce whose work I've read and loved in the past. I don't know what has happened to make the author dish up this messy stew of a novel, but I certainly hope that its only temporary, and that eventually Pierce will get back to writing heroines and engaging stories full of wit and charm. It makes me sad to say that I can only give this novel a C, and I'd only recommend it to die-hard fans who don't really care what she writes, as long as it happens within the world of Tortall.