Cool Idea of the Day at Island Books, Bookshop Cat Returns, In the Land of Good Living Book Review, Fundraiser for Writers Against Racial Injustice, Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian, and Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Hello bookish friends and fellow Coronavirus quarantine warriors! I've been struggling with reading lately, mainly because I have been buying books online (I had no other choice) and a few times now I've been sold books that were not at all what they were advertised to be. The Library of Legends, for example, initially seemed right up my alley. Female protagonist, books and Chinese magic and all! Unfortunately, the author takes those juicy ingredients and renders them flavorless and boring. There were a couple of other books, a female-lead vampire novel and a quest fantasy that were also supposed to be engaging and exciting reads that turned out to be total drek. And I gave all of them more than 50 pages to prove themselves, too! Library of Legends got 150 pages, and it was still putting me to sleep and filling me with disappointment at the misogyny by page 147 as it was on page 27. Even the novel I'm reading now, (Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies) a cool British romantic Bridget Jones-ish style tale was supposed to have a female protagonist who was bright and empowered to take control of her life. Not so, as the first 19 chapters are the protagonist, Kate, whining and pining for her boyfriend, getting drunk, and dealing with her horrible mother who wants her married off and away from home ASAP, no matter the cost. All Kates bad decisions and troubles relate to her extremely low self esteem, her controlling mothers low esteem of herself and her daughter, and the constant imperative to have a boyfriend, a fiance, a husband, without which a woman is apparently worthless. How ridiculous and sexist and stupid! Finally, though, we're hearing from an elderly (97 year old) feminist who has traveled and lived and loved on her own terms. So I am praying that the rest of the book focuses on Cecily the zingy senior, and not on Kate the brainless.

Island Books used to be my go-to bookstore when I worked for the Mercer Island Reporter. It heartens me to hear that they're still going strong in this time when so many retail outlets are closing down forever.

Cool Idea of the Day: 'Retail Priority Pick-Up Zone'

The city of Mercer Island, Wash., recently implemented a "Retail

Priority Pick-Up Zone http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44441143" on SE 30th Street for the Islandia Shopping Center, where tenants include Island Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44441144. "Just like the Food Priority Pick-Up Zones' in Town Center, these new 3-minute loading zones provide a safe and convenient way to access curbside service from your favorite local businesses," the city said.

On Facebook, Island Books expressed its appreciation noting: "Running a small business has never been easy and the current climate makes it even more challenging. Small businesses are facing a strong headwind and we appreciate the City of Mercer Island and Mercer Island Police Department efforts to provide us all with a small tailwind. Please reach out to the city and city council to thank them and let them know you appreciate their efforts on behalf of small businesses on Mercer Island."

 My mom is from a tiny town near Cedar Rapids, and it's where she went to nursing school. I am thrilled to hear that their bookstore kitty cat is back in action at the store.

Bookshop Cat: Frank at Next Page Books

Posted on Facebook by Next Page Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44441149,Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Frank is back! Following a three-month papa-imposed hibernation, Frank made his triumphant return to the bookstore this morning. As one might imagine, he's pretty happy about it. If you're lucky, you may well spot him in the window as you pass by or pull up curbside for a pick-up. Small steps but we're hopeful this is the first one towards better days ahead."

 I lived in Florida for 5 years, long enough to learn that it's a truly bizarre place to reside. I imagine this book would be a fun read, especially for someone like my husband, who grew up in St Petersburg, Florida, and knows first hamd of "Walkin' Lawton's"  epic journey of a thousand miles.

Book Review: In the Land of Good Living: A Journey to the Heart of Florida

If Hunter Thompson and Joan Didion had produced a literary offspring, a young man whose older brother was Bill Bryson, his writing might sound something like Kent Russell's. That's the spirit that infuses In the Land of Good Living: A Journey to the Heart of Florida, Russell's entertaining, often deeply reflective portrait of his uneasy relationship with his native state, a place he calls "Hothouse America, a microcosm or synecdoche of the larger nation."

In late August 2016, the Miami-born journalist,along with his friends Glenn, a Canadian documentary film producer, and Noah, an Iraq War Marine veteran and fellow Floridian, embarked on a daunting journey, attempting to re-create the 1,000-mile walking campaign of former governor and senator Lawton Chiles in 1970. The goal, as Russell enthusiastically envisioned it, was to produce the "grandest, funniest, most far-ranging, depth-plumbing, tear-jerking, je-ne-sais-quoi-capturing work of art ever to emerge from the rank morasses and mirage metropolises of our beloved home!"

If they don't quite pull off that feat, the resulting account of their shambling odyssey on foot through America's "most dangerous pedestrian state" will more than suffice. Energetic and insightful, In the Land of Good Living bounces between the madcap account of the trio's frequent misadventures as they trudge across the state--from the "grim hotels and fried fish shacks" of Perdido Key in the Panhandle to flashy Miami, with its "combination of arriviste decadence and abject poverty"--and biting reflections on subjects that include looming environmental catastrophe and some of the "carpetbaggers, chicanerers, and salesfellows who grafted the American Dream onto strange roots in sandy soil."

At various moments, Russell and his compatriots attend a hurricane party, evade a pack of hounds, survive a near miss with an apparently homicidal pickup truck driver, and hang out with assorted denizens of Florida life, including archetypal "Florida Men," among them an alligator hunter and the ex-addict who plays Jesus in an "unofficial capacity" at Orlando's Holy Land Experience. Russell skillfully juxtaposes these sometimes bizarre, frequently hilarious, encounters (some of them recounted in the form of shooting scripts for the projected documentary) with glimpses of the history of the "swamp of self-creation that, for better or worse, leads the nation the way a jutting thermometer leads the infirm" and visions of its perilous future.

Love it or loathe it, the third most populous state occupies an outsized presence in American life and consciousness. Anyone who wants to better understand why that is, and what it portends for the country, would do well to start with In the Land of Good Living. --Harvey Freedenberg,freelance reviewer

With all the protests of police brutality toward People of Color, particularly black Americans these days, this quote is particularly appreciated for its insight.

Quotation of the Day

"Let me just give you guys a little perspective of what it has been like being a black business owner in Martinsville. I've been open going on 4 years in September, it was not until maybe a month or two ago that I felt comfortable enough to put 'black owned' in any of my bios or on my website out of fear that I would run off potential white customers. I also would heavily consider how my white customers would feel about me often posting black authors on my social media pages.

"How insane is it that a black woman who owns a business feared simply stating that her business was black owned? Better yet, it's ridiculous that I held on to this fear that some people may see me as too 'pro Black' which in their minds makes me 'anti-White' (false narrative).

Anywho, this is just one small example of what it's like being a minority in the world. And this is very minuscule in comparison to the fear we live in when it comes to our lives.

"Being pro-Black doesn't make us anti-White. Saying Black Lives Matter does not mean we are saying All Lives do not Matter. It is a product of our visceral fear that makes us feel like we in fact do not matter at all. That's it and that's all."

--DeShanta Hairston owner of Books & Crannies http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44470621, Martinsville, Va., in a Facebook post yesterday

 This is an important time in history to stand with POC and fund justice for all!

#WritersAgainstRacialInjustice Doubles EJI Fundraising Goal

A fundraiser created by six authors under the hashtag #WritersAgainstRacialInjustice http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44570758 has already doubled its initial goal of $10,000. As of yesterday, more than $22,000 from 400-plus contributors had been raised for the Equal Justice Initiative , which was founded by author and lawyer Bryan Stephenson (Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption).

Writers Against Racial Injustice was launched June 4 by authors Jessica Keener, Lise Haines, Elizabeth Searle, Rosie Sultan, Michelle Hoover and Delia Cabe. The organizers said the Equal Justice Initiative "is an outstanding organization working to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality. As events unfold globally in reaction to George Floyd's horrific death--our streets full of protestors rightfully demanding a world with justice for all--we are motivated to act. We all want to do something with impact, even those with health matters that keep us at home. We felt an urgency to gather our community of writers together and be part of a positive change."

In a Facebook post yesterday, Haines observed http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44570760: "When I try to imagine how this has been possible, I realize we are standing at a confluence of need, mission, and compassion. The need to do something is urgent and irrefutable. The Equal Justice initiative mission is crucial: to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenge racial and economic injustice, and to protect basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. And it's our good fortune that we're part of a community of writers who work from the compassionate end of life; it is our source material."

Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian is the sequel to the brutal but amazing story of Theo the Ash Princess.What I appreciated about this series is that it concerns a native people, similar to polynesians or Hawaiian Island peoples, who are crushed under a white fascist racist ruler of legendary brutality who seeks to strip the land and its people and leave nothing behind but ashes. The tale is about the last living royal of the native regime who finally decides to accept help in trying to foment rebellion and help her people take back their lands and homes. With the Black Lives Matter movement so fresh in everyone's mind right now in America, there is a resonance that is very satisfying in seeing Theo's people rise up against a usurper Kaiser/King and seek justice. Here's the blurb: Lady Smoke is an epic new fantasy novel about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.

The Kaiser murdered Theodosia's mother, the Fire Queen, when Theo was only six. He took Theo's country and kept her prisoner, crowning her Ash Princess--a pet to toy with and humiliate for ten long years. That era has ended. The Kaiser thought his prisoner weak and defenseless. He didn't realize that a sharp mind is the deadliest weapon.

Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage--Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser's rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.

To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done.
Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.

The prose is muscular and dark without falling prey to the horror genre tropes that I dislike so much, ie gore and gruesomeness for it's own sake. The plot glimmers along with stealth and grace. There aren't a lot of people to like, but Theo and her journey are engrossing and fascinating. I already have the third and final book of the series at the top of my TBR. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read the first book in the series.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center is a brilliant novel that explores the themes of love, forgiveness and personal growth with exciting and urgent prose combined with a rapid fire plot that kept me turning pages until I finished the book at 2 AM. Cassie, the independent and irresistible protagonist is just what the doctor ordered in this time of quarantine and racial strife when none of us are certain of the future, and our agency in the world is limited. Here's the blurb: From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel about courage, hope, and learning to love against all odds.

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.
The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew―even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...and it means risking it all―the only job she’s ever loved, and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.
Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

An Amazon Best Book of August 2019: Texan firefighter Cassie Hanwell loves her job and the men and women she works with at her Austin-based station. When Cassie’s estranged mother calls up out of the blue to ask Cassie to move to Boston to help her after an operation, Cassie reluctantly agrees, but her pending transfer to the nearby all-male fire station doesn’t worry her overly until her female captain in Austin starts offering advice: “If you make eye contact, make it straight on, like a predator.” “No sex with firefighters. Or friends of firefighters. Or relatives of firefighters.” “If your captain says to run a mile, run two.” As for pull-ups? “Do thirty, at least…. And make sure you can do at least a few one-handed.” Cassie hopes this advice will turn out to be anachronistic, but a fire station that’s never had a “lady” firefighter in 120 years adapts slowly. And reluctantly. Making the whole situation even worse is the rookie, the bighearted new guy whom all the other firefighters like far more than they do Cassie, though she’s clearly more skilled. And Cassie, to her horror, really likes the rookie as well. Funny, smart, and smartly paced, Things You Save in a Fire ignites around the topics of equality, love, redemption, and forgiveness even as it delivers an unforgettable protagonist who shows off not just “a few” but nine breathtaking, cheer-worthy one-handed pull-ups on her first day at work. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

This is one of those books that, though it might be labeled a "romance" it actually shows how tough it is for a woman to make it in a man's world like firefighting. I fully believe it is crucial to have stories like this that show that being a woman and having feelings for someone isn't a liability. This is a rare novel that deserves every drop of "Good Ink" and accolades that it gets. A solid A, with a recommendation that everyone who struggles with sexism read this book, or even just read it if you're looking for an engaging romance that's written in impeccable prose. I will be looking for more of Center's prose stylings in the future.