May the 4th be with you! This past week we lost one of the original cast members of Star Wars, Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca the Wookie, towering alongside his buddy Han Solo in their adventures across a galaxy far, far away. RIP Mr Mayhew, I hope that you and Princess Leia (Carrie Fischer) are having a great reunion in heaven.
Meanwhile, in the "world going to hell in a hand basket" category, we have these idiots who claim to be Christians, who are NOT doing God's work, but are instead spreading intolerance and hatred during a children's story time, of all things. Jesus never said a word about homosexuality being wrong, BTW, so they are basing their hatred on ancient prejudice written into documents by men, not God. White Nationalism is fascism, plain and simple, and we fought wars to keep this evil from infecting our society with its hatred and murderous cruelty. I agree with the Councilman who said that children need to learn to embrace diversity and acceptance of differences.
Two Protest Drag Queen Storytime in N.J.
On Saturday, two men who said they were members of a
Catholic group called American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and
Property protested the drag queen story hour http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40546225
appearance by Harmonica Sunbeam at Little City Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40546226
in Hoboken, N.J., the Jersey Journal reported.
The men stood across the street from the bookstore holding
signs that read "God made them male & female" and "honk to
protect our children."
The protest occurred the same day that a group of white
nationalists interrupted an appearance at Politics & Prose http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40546227,
Washington, D.C., by Jonathan M. Metzl, a psychiatrist and author of Dying of
Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland
(Basic Books).
Harmonica Sunbeam told the Journal: "It's surprising
that two men would take a beautiful Saturday afternoon to go to another town
and protest, instead of living their own lives." She added that the event
was "overwhelmingly positive. It's a very simple situation. If you don't
like it, don't come." She does story times at Little City Books and WORD
in Jersey City.
According to the newspaper, Hoboken Councilman Mike DeFusco,
who is gay, called the protest the "kind of divisive language and
intolerance [that] has no place in Hoboken, Hudson County or anywhere in our
country.... We should be teaching children to embrace diversity and acceptance,
not spreading hateful rhetoric that aims to set us back on the strides we have
made to get closer to full equality."
Lovely War by Julie Berry was a refreshing surprise of a novel that was packaged in a very sexist "chick lit" fashion, with a pink-coated pretty woman holding an Eiffel Tower in her hands on the cover, while the top of her head was cut off, for some bizarre reason. The book looked like a breezy romance novel, which is not what the text was about at all, thereby giving weight to the "never judge a book by its cover" truism. This book was actually an engaging tale about Aphrodite, (goddess of love) after getting caught having an affair with Ares (god of war) by Vulcan, (god of the forge, Aphrodite's husband) telling the gods present (including Hades, god of the underworld) about how vital and important her work is, via the tale of two people she's brought together out of the horrors of WWII. Here's the blurb: They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from
London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born
ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous
voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite,
who must spin the tale or face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled
with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that,
though War is a formidable force, it's no match for the transcendent
power of Love.
The prose was, pun intended, divine, and the plot engaging and swift. This was one of those books I could not put down until the final page was read. I really do wish the publisher, Viking, had done a better job of the cover art, so that more lovers of classic mythology would find this charming and emotional novel. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves ancient myths and modern war/love stories combined in a clever fashion.
The prose was, pun intended, divine, and the plot engaging and swift. This was one of those books I could not put down until the final page was read. I really do wish the publisher, Viking, had done a better job of the cover art, so that more lovers of classic mythology would find this charming and emotional novel. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves ancient myths and modern war/love stories combined in a clever fashion.
A Lady of Resources, A Lady of Spirit, and A Lady of Integrity, by Shelley Adina are the 5th, 6th and 7th book in the Magnificent Devices steampunk series that I am thoroughly hooked on (and I blame you, Gail Carriger! LOL). In fact, I have the 8th and 9th books on their way to my doorstep right now. I read these three wonderfully well written stories in the space of about 4 days, because their sparkling prose and meticulously timed plots had me reading until the wee hours. Adina never wastes a word of prose and her paragraphs are lean and clean and all business, which is a great relief to those, like myself, who read a lot of books that are full of puffed up paragraphs and meandering plots that go nowhere, as if the author was being paid by the word to bore the reader. Here are the blurbs: Lady of Resources: Now sixteen, the twins Lizzie and Maggie are educated young ladies who
have not been called "the Mopsies" in years ... except by their
guardian, Lady Claire Trevelyan. With the happy prospect of choosing
their own future, the girls can leave their dodgy past behind, and
Lizzie can bury her deepest childhood memories where they can do no
harm.
Upon her graduation from school, Lizzie is awarded an enormous honor--but can she pay the price? Is she ready to be separated from Maggie and become the woman she believes she was meant to be--or will old habits tempt her into defiance and plunge her into disaster? On a dare, Lizzie picks the wrong man's pocket and nearly loses her life. But these frightening events bear unexpected fruit: The dream Lizzie holds closest to her heart comes true in a most unexpected way. But this dream, too, comes with a price. Lizzie must decide whether her true family is the one she was born to ... or the one she chose that long-ago day when the Lady of Devices steamed into their lives.
Upon her graduation from school, Lizzie is awarded an enormous honor--but can she pay the price? Is she ready to be separated from Maggie and become the woman she believes she was meant to be--or will old habits tempt her into defiance and plunge her into disaster? On a dare, Lizzie picks the wrong man's pocket and nearly loses her life. But these frightening events bear unexpected fruit: The dream Lizzie holds closest to her heart comes true in a most unexpected way. But this dream, too, comes with a price. Lizzie must decide whether her true family is the one she was born to ... or the one she chose that long-ago day when the Lady of Devices steamed into their lives.
Lady of Spirit:Under normal circumstances, Maggie and Lizzie would be delighted to meet
their long-lost relatives and be reunited with those who had believed
them dead, but when are the Mopsies' circumstances ever to be considered
normal? With her half-brother Claude Seacombe, Lizzie travels to
Cornwall to meet her mother's parents. Maggie goes along, too, since she
is part of the family ... or so one might assume. But the more time she
spends in her grandparents' clifftop mansion, the more she realizes
that something is not right, and the events surrounding her own mother's
death are more mysterious-and dangerous-than anyone alive suspects.
For an old nemesis is preying on the weak and proud, and no matter how well dressed or well educated a young lady might be, she cannot stand by and watch evil destroy a beloved cousin's future. Maggie must straighten her spine and plunge into danger for Lizzie's sake ... and prove that no matter the name she bears, she is first and foremost what the Lady of Devices believes her to be ... a lady of spirit.
For an old nemesis is preying on the weak and proud, and no matter how well dressed or well educated a young lady might be, she cannot stand by and watch evil destroy a beloved cousin's future. Maggie must straighten her spine and plunge into danger for Lizzie's sake ... and prove that no matter the name she bears, she is first and foremost what the Lady of Devices believes her to be ... a lady of spirit.
Lady of Integrity: Lady Claire Trevelyan and renowned scientist Andrew Malvern are looking
forward to domestic felicity in London when they are surprised by an
unexpected visitor. A desperate and fugitive Alice Chalmers seeks their
help--her ship has been seized in the Duchy of Venice and worse, her
navigator Jake has been thrown into the dreaded underwater prison from
which no one ever escapes. Even the innocent.
Lady Claire is about to embark on her career in Munich at the Zeppelin Airship Works. The Mopsies are beginning their final year at school. Andrew Malvern begins to despair of his fiancée ever choosing a wedding gown ... but when help is denied from official quarters, the close bonds of friendship and shared adventure trump all these considerations with an urgency that cannot be ignored.
But there is a brooding evil waiting for them in Venice ... an evil that would just as soon put an end to the flock's interference once and for all. With an innocent friend's unexpected return and a pair of secret agents who would prefer that women not become involved ... the situation clearly calls for the inner resources of a lady of integrity. I must say that though I enjoyed all three books, I enjoyed the 5th and 6th books more than the 7th, mainly because they were about the "Mopsies" finding their family heritage and finding their inner strength, while the 7th book was about a character I find rather charmless, Alice Chalmers and her rescue of Jake, who has been thrown into an underwater jail and forced to labor cleaning the dead bodies left by the "kracken" out of the cogs and wheels that keep Venice moving along the waters, like a mechanical island. So though (SPOILER) they do rescue Jake and Captain Holly, they leave this horrific jail/slavery system in place, knowing that hundreds of other people are going to die beneath Venice, and that one of the captains of industry is trying to get the Italian government to agree to buy prisoners from him to use as slave labor in the future. I really hope that this situation is rectified in books 8 and 9, and that Lady Claire and Andrew Malvern are finally able to tie the knot. I'd give all these books an A, and recommend them to anyone who has read the previous books and enjoys the Steampunk genre of fiction.
Lady Claire is about to embark on her career in Munich at the Zeppelin Airship Works. The Mopsies are beginning their final year at school. Andrew Malvern begins to despair of his fiancée ever choosing a wedding gown ... but when help is denied from official quarters, the close bonds of friendship and shared adventure trump all these considerations with an urgency that cannot be ignored.
But there is a brooding evil waiting for them in Venice ... an evil that would just as soon put an end to the flock's interference once and for all. With an innocent friend's unexpected return and a pair of secret agents who would prefer that women not become involved ... the situation clearly calls for the inner resources of a lady of integrity. I must say that though I enjoyed all three books, I enjoyed the 5th and 6th books more than the 7th, mainly because they were about the "Mopsies" finding their family heritage and finding their inner strength, while the 7th book was about a character I find rather charmless, Alice Chalmers and her rescue of Jake, who has been thrown into an underwater jail and forced to labor cleaning the dead bodies left by the "kracken" out of the cogs and wheels that keep Venice moving along the waters, like a mechanical island. So though (SPOILER) they do rescue Jake and Captain Holly, they leave this horrific jail/slavery system in place, knowing that hundreds of other people are going to die beneath Venice, and that one of the captains of industry is trying to get the Italian government to agree to buy prisoners from him to use as slave labor in the future. I really hope that this situation is rectified in books 8 and 9, and that Lady Claire and Andrew Malvern are finally able to tie the knot. I'd give all these books an A, and recommend them to anyone who has read the previous books and enjoys the Steampunk genre of fiction.
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