Vampire Chronicles Become A Series, John Irving Wins Literary Peace Prize, Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald Movie, The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Dear Mrs Bird By AJ Pearce and Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine

I'm excited for this new series on Hulu, as I am a fan of Anne Rice's early works, in particular Interview With A Vampire and the Vampire Lestat.

TV: Vampire Chronicles

Hulu has picked up Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37653093

TV series. The author and her son, Christopher Rice, will executive

produce alongside Anonymous Content's David Kanter and Steve Golin. The

project, which has been in the works since 2016, "will begin with the

story told in The Vampire Lestat and be an entirely open-ended story

that could span multiple seasons," TheWrap reported.

Paramount Television and Anonymous Content optioned the rights to 11 of

Rice's Vampire Chronicles books for adaptation in 2017, one year after

Rice began developing the project. Paramount TV president Amy Powell

said at the time: "It is undeniable that Anne Rice has created the

paradigm against which all vampire stories are measured. The rich and

vast world she has created with the Vampire Chronicles is unmatched and

sophisticated with '90s gothic undertones that will be perfectly suited

to captivate audiences. The series is full of compelling characters led

by Lestat, arguably one of the greatest original characters, literary or

otherwise."

I have been a fan of Irving's early works for 30 years. My favorites include The World According to Garp, Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany,Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, The 158 Pound Marriage and The Water Method Man. There are a few later works that I read and didn't like, so I haven't read his new stuff, but I still think he's a fantastic prose stylist and deserves this Literary Prize.

John Irving is this year's recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37653097's Ambassador Richard C.

Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37653098, which

recognizes authors for their complete body of work. Irving will be

presented with the award October 28 during the Dayton Literary Peace

Prize Gala.

"John Irving's body of work creates worlds that allow the reader to

explore the contradictions of twisted morality, the consequences of

suspicions of the other, the absurdities of pride and ignorance, and the

tragedy of a lack of sympathy and empathy for our fellow humans:

characteristics that make peace unreachable," said Sharon Rab, founder

and chair of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation. "Through

books--especially Irving's books--readers learn to understand and

identify with people who are different from themselves."

Irving commented: "Novels and stories invite people into a writer's

worldview. For forty years and counting, I've written about sexual

difference and sexual minorities--at times, when the prevailing literary

culture labeled it bizarre or niche. I've written with the hope that the

bigotry, hatred, and flat-out violence perpetrated on sexual minorities

would become a relic of the past. In that sense I've written in

protest--I've written protest novels. And yet, if I've written

characters whose stories give them access to the breadth of human

experience and emotion, I've done my job as a writer. Novels are my

platform; if a prize helps bring attention to my subject matter, then I

welcome it."

I adored the first movie in this series, and I'm excited to see this one as well.

Movies: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

"Young Newt--and the youngest Dumbledore we've seen yet--is revealed in

this exclusive new photo from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of

Grindelwald  http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37659710,"

Entertainment Weekly reported in featuring a photo in which "we see

professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and an alarmed-looking Newt

Scamander (Joshua Shea) at Hogwarts in a flashback scene from the

upcoming Harry Potter-verse film."

Scamander's connection with Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz) is "one of

those relationships where there was definitely great love there," Eddie

Redmayne, who plays grown-up Newt, told EW. "But was it ever a

full-blown relationship? I don't know. But certainly, she's somebody who

has touched him hugely. At the beginning of this film you realize she's

now in a relationship with Newt's brother so, of course, that comes with

great complications."

Law also said he "knew the books and the Harry Potter films pretty well,

my children grew up with them so I grew up as an accompanying adult. And

I'd seen and enjoyed the first [Fantastic Beasts] film. Then I had the

good fortune and opportunity to sit with J.K. Rowling shortly after we

started work on it. She gave me a very good sense of Albus's life

journey and who he was and what was happening in his head and his heart

and his world for this particular story."

The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst is the third and final book in the Queens of Renthia series, all of which I've read and reviewed on this blog. In this final volume, there's more than a bit of emphasis on the romantic relationships of the Queens, and their relatives, and there are the inevitable battles with spirits of land, sea and air. What I liked most about the book was the finalization of those relationships, and headmistress Hanna's tough love and diplomacy that was put into play in Semo. The older women in this book kicked some serious butt and did it with wit and style, which, being an older gal myself, I appreciated reading (I am getting tired of reading about teenage girls who triumph over their own self loathing and mean spirited classmates to save the day and get a really cool boyfriend. It's just so overdone). Here's the blurb:

The battle between vicious spirits and strong-willed queens that started in the award-winning The Queen of Blood and continued in the powerful The Reluctant Queen comes to a stunning conclusion in The Queen of Sorrow, the final volume of Sarah Beth Durst’s Queens of Renthia trilogy.
Queen Daleina has yearned to bring peace and prosperity to her beloved forest home—a hope that seemed doomed when neighboring forces invaded Aratay. Now, with the powerful Queen Naelin ruling by her side, Daleina believes that her dream of ushering in a new era can be realized, even in a land plagued by malevolent nature spirits who thirst for the end of human life.
And then Naelin’s children are kidnapped by spirits.
Nothing is more important to her than her family, and Naelin would rather watch the world burn than see her children harmed. Blaming the defeated Queen Merecot of Semo for the kidnapping, Naelin is ready to start a war—and has the power to do it.
But Merecot has grander plans than a bloody battle with her southern neighbors. Taking the children is merely one step in a plot to change the future of all Renthia, either by ending the threat of spirits once and for all . . . or plunging the world into chaos. Publisher's Weekly: The thrilling and sometimes melancholy finale of Durst’s Queens of Renthia trilogy continues to expand the world of Renthia, finally bringing the story into Semo, the neighboring country that had attacked the land of Aratay in the previous book. Naelin—one of Aratay’s two queens, capable of commanding the wild nature spirits of the land—learns that her children have been kidnapped by Queen Merecot of Semo and is forced to bargain to retrieve them. Naturally, everyone’s plans go awry (including those of Naelin’s fellow queen, Daleina), and both countries find themselves fighting for survival. As Durst’s scope expands, she still has time for character growth (including a nice focus on Daleina’s younger sister, Arin, whose exploration of her bisexuality ends up tying directly into her own quest to help save the nations), and for some sharp twists. Younger fans of Durst’s YA works might be surprised by just how adult the story gets at times—Naelin and Daleina both enjoy a lot of sex, and death is plentiful and sometimes horrific. The well-crafted denouement wraps up the entire adventure perfectly
Though I gather we are supposed to learn to love the bad/evil sociopaths in this final book, I still couldn't understand why Daleina didn't just kill that wacko Merecot and rid the world of her evil ambition once and for all. I also didn't understand why Hamon's poisonous mother wasn't killed. She's a murderer and poisoner and even her son barely wants anything to do with her, but somehow she gets a 'get out of Renthia free pass' why? Because she cackles and is witty while being evil? I think Daleina ends up looking weak and stupid for insisting on friendship with Merecot the apricot, and Daleina's husband the healer looks even weaker for stitching up his mother when he should have let her die. Still, I liked Naelin and Ven's journey, and the prose was sterling, helping along a nicely-paced plot. I'd give it an A, and recommend this book to anyone who has read the other two and needs closure. 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is one of those bestsellers that gets a ton of good ink and hype for at least a couple of years after it's published. Espeically now that it was selected as a book for actress Reese Witherspoon's Book Club (and doubtless will be optioned by her film company). Like A Man Called Ove and Olive Kitteridge, the public seems to be fascinated by crabby middle aged or senior aged curmudgeons who are also misanthropes, and don't hesitate to judge those around them harshly and with vitriolic glee. Eleanor is even more of a hermit than Ove and Olive, and she reacts to those around her with cold and 'logical' scorn. Though she's obviously bright in a somewhat Autistic fashion, she's naive and innocent of nearly all popular culture and music, due to her horrifically abusive upbringing. Here's the blurb:
No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . . The only way to survive is to open your heart.  
This is the problem that I have with books like this; they all claim to be "warm" or "warmhearted" and "uplifting" when in reality they are none of those things. Eleanor is an alcoholic, nasty, judgemental bitch, her mother is a psychopathic evil abusive bitch, and nowhere in their story is there anything warm or uplifting. It's tragic and horrific and the only way that Eleanor is going to survive isn't by opening her heart, but by sitting down with a competent therapist and dealing with her childhood abuse PTSD (she finally does this, and it makes her, nearly overnight, into a decent human being...voila!) Why anyone would fall in love with her, and deal with all her mental BS is beyond me. Still, I'd imagine this will be a juicy role for Reese W and company. The prose was decent, if not outright amusing at times, but the plot meandered. I'd give this book a C+, and only recommend it to those who aren't depressed and like anti-heroines.

Dear Mrs.Bird by A.J.Pearce is a fascinating story of an aspiring journalist in London during the Blitz of WWII. Because I am a huge fan of British lit in general and comedic wordsmiths like PG Wodehouse in particular, I was really looking forward to this novel. Fortunately, it delivered a great story with interesting characters,for the most part. My problem with the novel came when I couldn't understand why the protagonist, our plucky heroine Emmy, seemed to have zero self esteem or faith in herself and her decisions. When her so-called friend Bunty accuses her of being the cause of her fiance's death, though he was killed when a bomb went off and obliterated the nightclub they were dining at, Emmy actually believes this line of bologna and feels terrible guilt and anguish over it. Here is the blurb: An irresistible debut set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist— a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.
London, 1940. Emmeline Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent suddenly seem achievable. But the job turns out to be working as a typist for the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down.
Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant notes from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men, or who can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.
Prepare to fall head over heels for Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are gutsy and spirited, even in the face of a terrible blow. The irrepressible Emmy keeps writing letters in this hilarious and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.
Mrs Bird is a loud and horrible old trout whose advice generally consists of telling people they're stupid and that they need to buck up and move on. When Emmy reads the letters from sometimes desperate young women, she can't help but feel compassion toward them and want to help, because she knows that Mrs Bird will refuse to even read their pleas. The fact that the evil old stodgy Editress, as she calls herself, actually tries to sue Emmy when Emmy takes matters into her own hands is just beyond the pale. The ending makes it seem as if Emmy has actually won, in a sense, and retained her job because she has made the magazine, which was losing readers, so popular that the publisher can't help but notice. However, Mrs Bird isn't fired, as she should have been, and Emmy isn't put in her place as advice columnist, which is bizarre. The rampant sexism from nearly all the men in the book is apparently a product of the era. At any rate, the prose was wonderfully British and the plot swift and sure. I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to those who like WWII tales with female protagonists.

Smoke And Iron by Rachel Caine is the 4th book in the Great Library series, and I would assume that we are coming close to the final book. There was a lot of pain and suffering in this volume, and the main characters barely made it through, so I can only hope that they are able to fix everything in a final volume. Here's the blurb: To save the Great Library, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, and Ash and Quill put themselves in danger in the next thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.
The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making...if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies.
the "Scooby gang" of the Great Library do manage to rout the bad guys in this installment, but they don't quite complete their plan because the head villain manages to escape. Still, the excellent ray gun that Thomas creates, and the plan of Jess and Brendan (and the machinations of the most political member of the gang, Khalila) all culminate in a coup at the Great Library that sets the stage for some big changes in book 5. The prose was clean and clear, the plot a foxtrot of POVs that came together to create a satisfying story. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who has read the previous three novels in this series.

Bath Bookshop's Seattle Inspiration, Colette Movie, The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick, Love & Gelato and Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch

Wow, this bookshop, which was inspired by Seattle's Elliott Bay book store, sounds like a wonderful place. I have always wanted to visit England, and now I have an excuse to visit Bath, England once I get there!

Bath Bookshop's Seattle Inspiration

Nic Bottomley, who owns Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37625847 in Bath, England, with his wife, Juliette, and is president of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland,

told the Guardian why the two quit their jobs

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37625848

as lawyers to open the bookshop in 2006: "We wanted to spend our lives

doing something we loved. We were on our honeymoon and got the idea

after visiting one of the world's greatest independent bookshops, the

Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle."

According to the Guardian, the bookshop features "claw-foot bath book

displays, toilets illustrated by former children's laureate Chris

Riddell, bibliotheraphy rooms, and the Bookshop Band, who play songs

that they've written inspired by the books of guest authors."

I've been a fan of Colette since I was a teenager, and read some of her scandalous work. I eagerly await this movie.

Movies: Colette

Bleecker Street has released the first trailer for Colette

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37625860.

Variety reported that "Keira Knightley stars as the eponymous Parisian

novelist struggling through an abusive and exploitative marriage to

Henry Gauthier-Villars, played by Dominic West. During their marriage,

Gauthier-Villars forced Colette to write her famous Claudine novels

under his name, reaping the fame and financial rewards that came with

the novels' success."

In a recent interview, Knightley told Variety that screenwriter Richard

Glazer and director Walsh Westmoreland "labored for 15 years to get the

film financed" and that the timing of the movie's release in the midst

of the #Time'sUp and #MeToo movements "isn't coincidental. She said the

pic's plot revolving around Colette's revolt against her abusive husband

and her affair with Marquise de Belbeuf, a notable gender-defying

lesbian artist of the time, draws parallels to the stories being told

today." Colette premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is set to

hit theaters September 21.

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie was a book I felt compelled to read after last weeks book of hers that I enjoyed (and reviewed). Crusie's books are just perfect for summer, they're like beach reads, even for those of us who burn too easily and like to stay indoors in the air conditioning. You can finish most Crusie books in a day, and I read Cinderella Deal in an afternoon. It was, like all her novels, rife with witty banter and lighthearted prose that compliments a zippy plot with at least one good sex scene (thankfully, Crusie knows how to write a hot sex scene without cringe-worthy euphemisms and sexist cliches). Here's the blurb: Daisy Flattery is a free spirit with a soft spot for strays and a weakness for a good story. Why else would she agree to the outrageous charade offered by her buttoned-down workaholic neighbor, Linc Blaise? The history professor needs a makeshift fiancée to secure his dream job, and Daisy needs a short-term gig to support her painting career. And so the Cinderella Deal is born: Daisy will transform herself into Linc’s prim-and-proper fiancée, and at the stroke of midnight they will part ways, no glass slippers attached. But something funny happens on their way to make-believe bliss, as a fake engagement unexpectedly spirals into an actual wedding. Now, with Linc and Daisy married and under one roof, what started as a game begins to feel real—and the people who seem so wrong for each other realize they may truly be just right.

Though the names of the main characters are a bit stereotypical, I still felt that they were well drawn and interesting, and their story worth telling. Crusie says in her intro to this novel that it was an early work of hers, and that her previous books had main characters that were seen as a little too removed and cold. So she created an especially warm and voluptuous protagonist in Daisy, and in so doing realized that putting more emotions into her characters was/is a good thing. I'd give this funny romantic romp an A, and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a light summer read.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick is the August novel for my library book group. Recommended by our librarian Jen, this book is often compared to the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. As it turns out, the comparison was rather astute, because both novels are about older men finding themselves by traveling and exploring what life has to offer. I actually thought that the title referred to Mr Pepper's charming personality, but it refers, instead, to an actual charm bracelet of his late wifes. Here's the blurb: In this hauntingly beautiful story of love, loneliness and self-discovery, an endearing widower embarks on a life-changing adventure.
Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden.

But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam’s death, something changes. Sorting through Miriam’s possessions, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he’s never seen before. What follows is a surprising and unforgettable odyssey that takes Arthur from London to Paris and as far as India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met—a journey that leads him to find hope, healing and self-discovery in the most unexpected places.Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters with big hearts and irresistible flaws, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is a joyous celebration of life’s infinite possibilities. 

This book also reminded me a lot of A Man Called Ove, in that both older male protagonists were lost without their wives, who died before them, leaving both men to fend for themselves when they were accustomed to being cared for by a woman (which is horribly sexist, but these are men of my parents generation, where sexism was the norm). Arthur Pepper is fortunate enough to have a neighbor lady who cares enough about him to bring him food and check up on him, and instead of being grateful for her care, he hides from her like a little kid, and treats her with cool indifference. He realizes he's been a bonehead later on in the book, but I found myself (as I did with Ove) wanting to smack him over the head and tell him to stop being such an immature jerk. Arthur also becomes jealous of his wife's old flames and her life previous to meeting him, which is equally ridiculous. Just because he had a boring and unsatisfying love life before he met her doesn't mean that there is something wrong with his wife because she went places and had affairs and friendships and lived!  Anyway, Arthur finally makes peace with his wife's past, and then uses her bracelet to help others, which makes for a sweetly satisfying ending. I'd give the book a B+, and recommend it to those who liked Harold Fry and Ove. 

Love & Gelato  and Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch are two delightful YA novels that really could be enjoyed by women of any age. They were recommended to me by some people in author Gail Carriger's Facebook group, who routinely post book recommendations that are either YA, Urban Fantasy or Steampunk or Paranormal Romance. Love & Gelato is set in Italy, when our protagonist Lina travels to meet the father she never knew about after her mother dies of cancer. While there, she encounters two handsome ex-pats like herself, and spends the summer being wooed by them while also learning her mother's secrets via a diary her mother sent to Italy ahead of her. Here's the blurb: A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Though (SPOILER) Lina inevitably discovers that Howard isn't her biological father (which readers will spot within the first few chapters,easily), I felt that her journey through the places her mother loved in Italy allowed her to grow up and realize that family of the heart is much more important than "blood" relations. Because she's grieving, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt in terms of whiny and adolescent behavior, but I still don't understand why it is so important for teenage girls in every YA book to have a "perfect" boyfriend by the end of the novel. Still, this was a solid read with fluid prose and a fast plot. A B+ and a recommendation to anyone who is fascinated by Italy.

Love & Luck is the story of Lina's best friend Addie, who is visiting Ireland for her relative's destination wedding with her three idiotic brothers and her tyrannical mother, who seems to expect Addie to be like a second mother to them and keep her youngest brother in line. Having visited Ireland back in 2000, I was delighted to read the brilliant descriptions of the places and people that Addie and her bizarre brother Ian (who seemed to me to be on the autism spectrum, like someone with Aspergers) visit and think about my own time there, looking at all the colors of green and interacting with the marvelous Irish people. Here's the blurb: Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding, and hoping she can stop thinking about the one horrible thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once inseparable siblings. Miserable, Addie can’t wait to visit her friend in Italy and leave her brother—and her problems—behind.

So when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s able to finally escape her anxious mind and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.
That is if they don’t get completely lost along the way. 

I was not a fan of Ian or his friend Rowan, who both make it clear that they are going to do anything and everything to get to the musical concert for this weird band they're enamored of, even if it compromises Addies chances for a college soccer scholarship. Once again, the female in the story must compromise her dreams and desires for those of the males in the story. Sexist and so wrong on many levels. Plus, again inevitably, Addie finds herself falling for Rowan, though after the crap he and her brother pull, I wouldn't want anything to do with him, as he's a liar with a crappy car (which Addie has to repair on the fly, because, again, the males have to be cared for by the females). Still, their journey, though fraught with near-encounters with the parents and car debacles galore, seemed to change Addie's outlook on herself and the jerk at her high school who sent her semi-nude selfie to all of his friends, because he's a stereotypical jock. Addie gets courageous and finally seems to take stock of herself. The ending was slightly less satisfying than Love & Gelato, as we are left with Addie walking up to the front doors of her school, not knowing how much harassment and bullying she will face upon entering. One hopes that her dipshit brothers will prove to be worth something and help her out for a change. Anyway, I'd give this book a B-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Love & Gelato, and wants more of Addie and Lina.

-->

Orange is the New Black Season 6, Books to Film in the UK, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, Want by Cindy Pon, Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, and Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

I've been a big fan of Orange is the New Black since its debut, largely because it stars one of my favorite actresses, my fellow Iowan Kate Mulgrew, who also played Captain Katherine Janeway on Star Trek Voyager. Mulgrew plays Red Reznikov, a tough mother figure to some of the other inmates, with a fabulous Russian accent. It's something to see,and the episodes are packed with drama, comedy and pathos. I am looking forward to Season 6!

TV: Orange Is the New Black Season 6

"The women of Litchfield have entered a completely new world" in the

Orange Is the New Black

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37565827

season 6 trailer, Entertainment Weekly reported. "When we last checked

in with Piper (Taylor Schilling), Taystee (Danielle Brooks), and the

rest of the gang, they were waiting for the S.W.A.T. team to storm their

underground pool hideout. Based on the trailer above, the new season

picks up some time after that and we'll find most of the women in

maximum security, a change that causes Suzanne (Uzo Aduba) quite a bit

of anxiety in the promo. But, she isn't the only one feeling the

pressure." In addition to the trailer, EW featured first-look photos

from the next season of Orange Is the New Black, which is based on Piper

Kerman's memoir.

This is a report for the United Kingdom, (England and Ireland, mainly) but I would bet that the USA's report on how many books are turned into movies and TV shows would show equally large statistics. Good storytelling is good in any medium.

Report: Book-to-Film Adaptations Are a Box Office Hit

Films based on books

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37591670

take in 44% more at the box office in the U.K. and 53% more worldwide

than original screenplays, according to a recent study released by the

Publishers Association. The Bookseller said that the report,

"Publishing's Contribution to the Wider Creative Industries

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37591671,"

explores what impact a book has when adapted for film, TV and theater,

in terms of critical and commercial success.

Data was collected through a combination of qualitative interviews, case

studies, publicly available information, data drawn from creative

industry bodies such as the British Film Institute (BFI), the BBC, UK

Theatre and Nielsen BookScan.

The research found that 43% of the top 20 box office-grossing films in

the U.K. between 2007 and 2016 were based on books, with a further 9%

based on comic books.

"In short, published material is the basis of 52% of top U.K. films in

the last 10 years, and accounts for an even higher share of revenue from

these leading performers, at 61% of U.K. box office gross and 65% of

worldwide gross," according to the study. "This share changes somewhat

over time: in some years such as 2011 and 2015, two-thirds of the

highest-grossing U.K.-produced films were adapted from published

material."

The effect on book sales was also explored. The Bookseller noted that

"the Hollywood adaptation of My Cousin Rachel was shown to have a

significant impact on the sales of the Daphne du Maurier thriller. The

sales of the book in 2017 alone accounted for nearly a quarter (23%) of

all sales since 1992, both in terms of value and volume, according to

the report."

Regarding TV adaptations, the study found that "almost a quarter of

dramas were based on literary sources and attracted a 56% larger share

of the audience than those based on original scripts, according to data

from the four major free-to-air U.K. TV networks between 2013 and 2017,"

the Bookseller wrote.

"Storytelling is at the heart of the creative industries and often the

best stories begin with a book," said P.A. CEO Stephen Lotinga. "This

research shows the hugely positive commercial impact British publishing

is having on film, television and theatre as our incredible authors'

ideas are the source of so many successful productions."

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker was a massive (800 plus pages) tale of historical fantasy that sounded much more light hearted than it actually was. With all the ancient Jewish magic and the desert magic of the Bedouins and old mystics, I thought that there would be a number of magical battles or transformations,but the magic was presented as primarily used for evil purposes by a greedy old wizard who wanted life eternal, and was willing to make a golem woman for an equally evil man who wanted a sexual slave. The women in the time periods within this book, ancient times in the Middle East and turn of the century (19th to 20th) New York, didn't have many good choices, and were treated like possessions by men and parents. Escaping marriage and servitude as a wife and mother was dangerous and difficult. Still, the women in the book managed to find moments of freedom and they played an integral part of the story. Here's the blurb: 

In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free
Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.

An inventive and swirling plot combines with well-constructed characters and elegant yet muscular prose to create a story that is complex and unforgettable.I was fascinated by the portraits painted of New York at the turn of the century, since the author takes us into the bowels of the city, where immigrants from many lands around the world mixed and mingled and raised their children to be something new; Americans. I'd give this beefy tome an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical magical romance.

Want by Cindy Pon is a YA science fiction novel set in a dystopian Taiwan of the future.Because I've read other adventure-oriented YA SF in the past, this book was recommended to me by Barnes and Noble.com, though I borrowed a copy from the library. The prose was full of sharp slang and quick wit, and the plot was brutally swift, but after you fasten your metaphorical seat belts, it's a fairly smooth ride to the end. Here's the blurb: Set in a near-future Taipei plagued by pollution, a group of teens risk everything to save their city in this thrilling novel from critically acclaimed author Cindy Pon.

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.
With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Though I liked Zhou as the protagonist, it seemed to me that some of his friends/team mates, especially Lingyi, (who looked after all of the teens, including Zhou, making sure they weren't starving and setting up plans for their take down of Jin Corp) should have played a more prominent role, because Zhou was, emotionally, a hot mess, while the gals stayed calm and cool in the face of any road blocks that arose. My other problem was that the CEO of Jin Corp, Daiyu's evil father (Daiyu is Zhou's girlfriend) managed to escape the scandal of all his murder and misdeeds, and set up shop in China to do the same terrible things all over again. Why was there no one willing to make him pay for all that he'd done? Wasn't that the whole point of the take-down that Zhou and his friends fought so hard to complete? Still, spicy and well written, I'd give this fast-paced novel a B+ and recommend it to anyone who likes dystopian YA science fiction.

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages was also recommended by an author who writes LBGTQ fiction and wanted to pass along some recommendations in fantasy fiction that has a lesbian protagonist or two. Though it's a slender volume at barely over 200 pages, I found the story rich and satisfying. Here's the blurb:

Inspired by the pulps, film noir, and screwball comedy, Passing Strange is a story as unusual and complex as San Francisco itself from World Fantasy Award winning author Ellen Klages, and a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella

San Francisco in 1940 is a haven for the unconventional. Tourists flock to the cities within the city: the Magic City of the World’s Fair on an island created of artifice and illusion; the forbidden city of Chinatown, a separate, alien world of exotic food and nightclubs that offer “authentic” experiences, straight from the pages of the pulps; and the twilight world of forbidden love, where outcasts from conventional society can meet.
Six women find their lives as tangled with each other’s as they are with the city they call home. They discover love and danger on the borders where magic, science, and art intersect. Publisher's Weekly:Klages (Portable Childhoods) draws a loving portrait of 1930s queer San Francisco in this deftly crafted tale of love, solidarity, and magic brought full circle. In the present day, Helen Young sells the last, lost work of famous pulp cover artist Haskel to an unethical art dealer who’s due for a comeuppance. Haskel was famous for art showing evocatively gruesome villains threatening lovely young ladies, but his last painting instead depicts the heroine of a romantic story. The narrative then goes back in time to cover the events leading up to Haskel’s final painting and abrupt career end, introducing a charming cast of queer women working as lawyers, singers, mathematicians, and witches. Emily, a newcomer to the group, crosses Haskel’s path by coincidence; the two fall into a whirlwind romance that ultimately requires the support and skills of all their friends to see through. Klages folds history and the modern world into a thoroughly satisfying novella that’s rich in detail, warm in regard, and clever in execution.

I completely agree with Publisher's Weekly's reviewer, in that I found Passing Strange to be a warm and luscious novel with many characters that I'd like to see more of. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the novel, we see one of the more fascinating characters, Helen Young, commit suicide at an advanced age, after duping a collector out of his ill gotten gains. But Haskel and Emily's story is put on hold as the duo are painted into stasis within Haskel's own artwork. Therein lies the potential for a new tale, if only Klages can be persuaded to create one. Still, it was well worth the afternoon it took to read through this engaging tale. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who wonders about the power of love and art. 

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie is the 5th or 6th book of hers that I've read,and while some of them seemed to be the same general idea rehashed and rebooted, Maybe This Time was a refreshing change of pace, as Crusie delves into the supernatural in this ghost story/romance. Here's the blurb: Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren't your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What's worse, Andie's fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie's dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that's not the only haunting.
What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-inlaw, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn't get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.
If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she's pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind.

Though there's plenty of romantic comedy to be had, the chilling ghost/possession aspect of the story puts a large, shivering damper on any laughter that readers might express. The fate of two starving, traumatized children also makes laughter seem cruel, as their pathetic and dire need for a decent parent figure becomes obvious before you're a third of the way through the book. Andie (or Andromeda, as she was awesomely named by her wacko hippy mother) is a bit too naive and falls back in love with her neglectful and somewhat cruel ex-husband North a bit too quickly, while shoving off her fiance with unseemly dispatch. though the book seemed headed for a swift HEA, Crusie adds a final few paragraphs with the old,creepy housekeeper that will freak out even the heartiest of readers (unless you're a fan of Stephen King, in which case, you'll see this coming a mile away, and be glad of it.) Crusie's prose is clean and strong, and her plots always move like a dance. Still, I find myself always hoping that her female protagonists could be strong without being paired up with a man at the end. But I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal romances set in modern times, with a frisson of fear woven throughout.