The Halloween Tree Movie, RIP Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Azimov's Foundation Comes to TV, Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon, The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan, Ember Queen by Laura Sebastian and Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman

I'm really excited that Hollywood/Streaming services (Like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon) are on board with adapting more classic science fiction novels into TV shows and movies. I adore Ray Bradbury's works, and I've read everything he's written. I'm also a fan of Arthur C Clarke, Issac Azimov and Frank Herbert, all of whose works are being adapted to the big or small screen as I write this. It has become more of a challenge to cast and create these films during the Coronavirus quarantine, but I know that studios are constantly looking for workarounds so that everyone can stay safe and still bring these masterworks to life.

Movies: The Halloween Tree

Will Dunn has been hired by Warner Bros. to adapt Ray Bradbury's 1972 fantasy novel The Halloween Tree http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44669874. Deadline reported that Bradbury "wrote and narrated Hanna-Barbera's 1993 feature-length animated version of the novel for television, for which he won the 1994 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program."

Production company 42 is producing the film adaptation, with Charlie Morrison overseeing the project. Dunn was a member of 20th Century Fox's Feature Writer Program, Deadline wrote, adding that his "spec feature The Fisherman was featured on the Black List, and he has worked on features for Disney, Sony, eOne and Warner Bros."

 I was gutted when I read that the author of one of my all time favorite novels, The Shadow of the Wind, died of colon cancer late last week. Carlos Ruiz Zafon was only 55 years old, and such a master of elegant prose delineating beautiful stories that I find it horrible that the world will be deprived of his excellence from now on. RIP, Mr Zafon.

Obituary Note: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Carlos Ruiz Zafon http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44701138, whose novel The Shadow of the Wind "became one of the best-selling Spanish books of all time," died June 19, the New York Times reported. He was 55. Published in 2001, The Shadow of the Wind was translated into dozens of languages and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote is the only Spanish novel that has sold more copies, according to his publisher, Planeta.

Ruiz Zafon's debut novel, The Prince of Mist (1993), was written for a teenage audience and won him the first of many literary awards. In an essay on his website, he observed: "I have written for young readers, for the movies, for so-called adults; but mostly for people who like to read and to plunge into a good story. I do not write for myself, but for other people. Real people. For you.... I became a writer, a teller of tales, because otherwise I would have died, or worse."

The Shadow of the Wind was the first title in a four-part project called "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books," which also included The Angel's Game (2008), The Prisoner of Heaven (2011) and The Labyrinth of Spirits (2017).

His literary agent, Antonia Kerrigan, said his long fight against colon cancer cut short his plans to write more novels, as well as film scripts. Recalling her first impressions of The Shadow of the Wind, she noted: "Carlos had been very successful with his young-adult books, and he had no real need to switch to an adult novel. But authors sometimes want to enlarge their vision of the world, and he clearly felt the time had come for him to do just that." Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain paid homage on Twitter to Ruiz Zafon, describing him as "one of the most read and admired Spanish authors worldwide," adding: "Thank you for letting us travel through your stories."

Calling him "one of the best contemporary novelists http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44701139," Planeta quoted from his most famous work: "Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it." The Guardian also noted that his British publisher, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, said it was "deeply saddened to hear of Carlos' passing."

Though Azimov's master work won't hit screens until next year, this trailer shows that it will be worth the wait. 

TV: Foundation

A teaser trailer has been released for Foundation http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz44718395, the upcoming 10-episode series from Apple TV+ and Skydance based on Isaac Asimov classic novel series. Deadline reported that in this first look, showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer "unveils a glimpse into the making of the epic saga, which chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire."

Foundation stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Lee Pace as Brother Day, Lou Llobell as Gaal, Leah Harvey as Salvor, Laura Birn as Demerzel, Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk, and Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn. The project is executive produced by Robyn Asimov, David S. Goyer, Josh Friedman, Cameron Welsh, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.

 Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon is a YA inclusive retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale, with added Royal romantic spice thrown in for good measure. Our Belle in this book is a Princess from India, while our beast is a British Lord whose family has been "at war" with the Princesses family since the British occupation of India. Here is the blurb: From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the first novel in a brand-new series set at an elite boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.

Will the princess save the beast?
For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?

His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…
As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending. 

I've read two other books by this author, and though I love her spicy prose and her fast-moving plots that dance along from page to page, I find the sexism of the female protagonist always being the one to sacrifice and the weaker person who falls into cliches of what young women are like to be slightly off putting. The idea that young women also must be in love or have a relationship with a guy at all times or they're filled with sorrow and angst seems a bit old fashioned as well (as is the idea of young women fighting over young men who treat them badly). Still, this was a fun read, and well worth a B+. I'd recommend it to any woman, young or old, who likes reboots of classic fairy tales.

The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan is a short historical mystery novel that takes place in Canada in 1910. I thought this book would be right up my alley, as I usually love female sleuths and smart sidekicks and a historical atmosphere with a touch of Steampunk. Unfortunately, the author seems to be somewhat new to novel writing, though she notes in the author bio that she's a bibliophile, so one would assume she knows a bit about good storytelling. McMillan's prose is somewhat slapdash and her plot wobbles in spots, but its her characters that nearly make or break the novel. Her Sherlock Holmes stand-in, Merinda, is a controlling, conceited, elitist jerk who treats her naive and somewhat dunderheaded Watson stand-in, Jem, like crap. I was ready to strangle Merinda by page 30, and felt the need to slap some sense into Jem soon thereafter. Anyway, here's the blurb:

In 1910 Toronto, while other bachelor girls perfect their domestic skills and find husbands, two friends perfect their sleuthing skills and find a murderer.
Inspired by their fascination with all things Sherlock Holmes, best friends and flatmates Merinda and Jem launch a consulting detective business. The deaths of young Irish women lead Merinda and Jem deeper into the mire of the city's underbelly, where the high hopes of those dreaming to make a new life in Canada are met with prejudice and squalor.
While searching for answers, donning disguises, and sneaking around where no proper ladies would ever go, they pair with Jasper Forth, a police constable, and Ray DeLuca, a reporter in whom Jem takes a more than professional interest. Merinda could well be Toronto's premiere consulting detective, and Jem may just find a way to put her bachelor girlhood behind her forever—if they can stay alive long enough to do so.

It seemed obvious to me that Merinda is gay, and that Jem really wants to have a typical home and family, without the responsibility of children so that she can continue to have "adventures" with the all-mighty Merinda. The problem is that Merinda relies on a member of the police force and anyone else she can bully into allowing her to piggyback on their investigations. She really doesn't do that much by herself. So she's less like Sherlock Holmes than she claims to be. I found myself growing bored and irritated with Merinda and her high handed treatment of everyone around her, so I'd give this slender volume a C+ and recommend it to those who are curious about Canada in the early 20th century.

Ember Queen by Laura Sebastian is the third and final book in the Ash Princess trilogy. Having read the other two books, I was anticipating that the longer and final book might be a bit of a slog. What a relief to discover that Sebastian rose to the challenge and made her final book rich with character development and sizzling action. Here's the blurb: Ember Queen is an epic fantasy about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.

Princess Theodosia was a prisoner in her own country for a decade. Renamed the Ash Princess, she endured relentless abuse and ridicule from the Kaiser and his court. But though she wore a crown of ashes, there is fire in Theo's blood. As the rightful heir to the Astrean crown, it runs in her veins. And if she learned anything from her mother, it's that a Queen never cowers.
Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin. Imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way.

The Kaiserin's strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if she has any hope of standing against the girl she once called her heart's sister. 

Sebastian's prose is muscular and crisp, while her plot soars on steel wings that kept me turning pages until the wee hours. I was only slightly irritated as Theo's insistence on giving the Kaiserin Cress every single opportunity to be a better person and less of a mad serial killer than she was. It was obvious that Cress was not redeemable, but Theo just couldn't accept that, and because of this blindspot, many more had to suffer Cress's cruelty. Still, I'd give this final novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read the other two books in the series.

Miss Cecily's Recipes For Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman was not at all what I was expecting. I really thought that this book would be more like Fanny Flagg's novels or Elizabeth Bergs books than a whiny Jojo Moyes romance. Yet the first 100 pages are all about the protagonist, Kate, whinging on an on about her boyfriend's lack of commitment. Fortunately, 97 year old Cecily arrives on the scene with her fantastic recipe book and stories of a life well lived, and slowly teaches Kate to grow a spine and take control of career and her love life. Here's the blurb:

An unlikely friendship between two stubborn, lonely souls anchors this big-hearted book and dares us all to ask for more.
When her life falls apart on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind, but she's fed up with pretty much everything.

Having no patience for Kate's choices in life or love, Cecily prescribes her a self-help book...of sorts. Thought for Food: an unintentionally funny 1950s cookbook high on enthusiasm, featuring menus for anything life can throw at the "easily dismayed," such as:

Breakfast with a Hangover

Tea for a Crotchety Aunt

Dinner for a Charming Stranger

As she and Cecily break out of their ruts, Kate will learn far more than recipes.
A feel-good summer read with a wicked sense of humor, Vicky Zimmerman's book will teach you that food is for feasting, friends are for savoring, and the way to a man's heart is...irrelevant.
Fans of Jennifer Weiner, Elin Hildenbrand, and Sophie Kinsella will delight in this recipe for confidence, romance, and fun.

Once I got through the first frustrating 100 pages, this novel really began to fly, with hard scrabble prose and an endearing senior character who makes the whole story worthwhile. I'd give the book a hearty B+, and recommend it to those who like books about quirky and wise elderly characters, like Arthur Truluv or Ove. It well worth wading through the first wobbles to get to the best parts later on.