Happy Thanksgiving week to all my fellow bibliophiles. I've been battling bladder and UTI and skin infections for the past two or three weeks, so I've neglected my book blog, and I've spent too much time watching movies and musicals on Netflix (Jingle Jangle was a stand out spectacular!) and not enough time reading through my TBR stack. I've also encountered some disappointments in my selections, so I have had to move on from book to book, trying to find something satisfying and uplifting and warm to read in these cold and grim times, when the COVID virus is rampaging again, taking more people from us than ever, especially in the Midwestern states, where my elderly mother lives: *YIKES* Anyway, here are some reviews and a lot of tidbits about the world of words.
I'm a huge Vonnegut fan, and have been since I started reading his works when I was a teenager in the 70s. His prose is glorious, his characters fascinate, and his books are classics of the SF genre and literature in general. His essays are legendary. So I was thrilled to read of this book that compiles his love letters to his wife, which I imagine are romantic and lovely.
Review: Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945
While browsing through the contents of her mother's attic, Edith Vonnegut made a remarkable discovery in the form of a white gift box. Inside this battered vessel she found 226 love letters written by her father, Kurt Vonnegut, to her mother, Jane Marie Cox, between 1941 and 1945.
At 19, the couple met at a dance at the Woodstock Country Club in Indianapolis and, from Kurt's letters, they seemed to form a swift and strong connection. Kurt was studying engineering at Cornell, always floating on the edge of academic probation; Jane studied literature at Swarthmore devotedly. Their letters--some typewritten, some written in pencil, many composed in some combination of the two with Kurt's drawings adorning the margins--represent not only a young love developing in the precarity of wartime, but the pure, imaginative work of a young writer who had yet to discover the extent of his talent.
Because the letters that make up this collection are written by Kurt to Jane, there is a natural imbalance in the narrative. Readers have access to Kurt's perspective, while Jane's can be interpreted only through Kurt's often meandering responses. But, as Edith Vonnegut points out in one of her occasional asides, Kurt's letters outnumbered Jane's six to one. She characterizes her father as the "primary pursuer." He often addresses her as "wife" and asks her to kiss sections of his letters to return to him. He drafts their future family crest, which features not just their names but a frothing mug of beer. He writes to her while on deployment, "I saw the Northern Lights for the first time in my life tonight. It was pretty much like kissing you." Kurt's letters contain no shortage of treacly proclamations of love. But they are pristine, wholesome expressions of youth communicated with the whole force of his being. His dexterity with language, his endlessly creative ways of conveying his obsession were early signs of his phenomenal talent.
In December 1944, Kurt was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and held as a POW in a Dresden slaughterhouse. His release in May 1945 marked a crucial change in his relationship with Jane. They married that September, and their remaining letters, written from Fort Riley, where Kurt was finishing his army obligations, reveal a mutual intimacy hard to find in earlier correspondence. Kurt's letters, once filled with poems, drawings and pleas designed solely to win the love of Jane, become the means by which Jane reads and edits Kurt's earliest stories. -Emma Levy, writer
Though I've only been to Poulsbo a couple of times, I am thrilled that they have a new and inclusive bookstore opening up!
BookIt Nook Opens in Poulsbo, Wash.
BookIt Nook http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46322381, an independent bookstore in Poulsbo, Wash., held its official grand opening this weekend. The store has around 2,000 square feet of selling space and carries general-interest books for children, teens and adults. BookIt Nook also offers a variety of non-book items, including tea, art and gifts.
Owner Jenna DeTrapani said the store will focus on promoting books and other products by people of color, LGBTQ+ authors and independent artists. DeTrapani plans eventually to carry used books as well, but those plans are on hold due to the pandemic. She expects to start buying used books from community members in late 2021.
The store has a drive-thru window, and once BookIt Nook's website goes live later this month, customers will be able to place orders online and then pick up their titles without leaving their vehicles. DeTrapani and her team have already set up a quick-service counter, allowing for easier checkout and order pick-up.
DeTrapani has lived in Poulsbo--often called "Little Norway"--for about five years. She has a background in marketing and in bookselling, having been the children's buyer and store manager at Eagle Harbor Book Co. in Bainbridge Island. She called Poulsbo a "quaint tourist destination," adding that the year-round community is very well-read. And though there are two other indies in Poulsbo already, they are both located in the city's downtown, while BookIt Nook is located on the "fringes" of the city, near the local community college and the site of a planned hotel and events center.
The store's opening weekend went "above and beyond" expectations, DeTrapani continued, and visitors have responded quite positively. She and her team have also been pleased that visitors are following all Covid-19 safety precautions.
On the subject of the store's logo, which features the ouroboros symbol of a snake eating its own tail, DeTrapani explained that for many readers, every book is like living a new life again and again, hence the ouroboros.
Though I can't risk going there myself until I've been vaccinated against the coronavirus, I think that this movie sounds fantastic.
Movies: Let Him Go & Mitchell Kaplan
"No matter what you're buying in this pandemic year, 'shop local' has become something of a mantra," the Miami Herald noted in reporting that the theory goes for movie tickets as well. Last Friday, Let Him Go http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46353016, based on the novel by Larry Watson and starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, opened at Coral Gables Art Cinema, directly across the street from Books & Books. The bookstore is owned by Mitchell Kaplan and the new film is from the Mazur Kaplan Company, which he runs with Paula Mazur."I loved the fact it was basically a love story between two mature people and a road movie at the same time, plus it's also a thriller, which gives it more of a wonderful kick," said Kaplan, who did a q&a session after the 7:30 showing of the movie. He's also introducing some of the evening showings.
Releasing a movie during a pandemic is not easy, but Kaplan credited studio Focus Features for its attention to details leading up to the release, the Herald noted. Originally scheduled for August, the film is opening on 2,500 screens in theaters operating at 25% or 50% capacity.
Kaplan said the health and safety of the audience was a priority for Coral Gables Art Cinema: "They've really done an excellent job in making it safe. You can't take your mask off at your seat, and they're taking seats away for social distancing. I feel very comfortable inviting people to come see it."
I LOVE that my fellow book lovers are moving en mass to help save iconic bookstores like Shakespeare and Company from extinction!
Shakespeare and Company http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46356341 bookshop in Paris, which "had to shut with sales down 80% as a result of the first lockdown, [and] has since converted its poetry section into a packaging station piled high with books and tote bags. After a social media plea for support, the store is entering this shutdown with hundreds of online orders per day, up from less than 10."
"The first time, we all hit the pause button and waited to see what would happen," said Krista Halverson, publishing director at Shakespeare and Company. "For myself and my friends, we're asking the question, 'How do I keep moving forward?' "
The response to the bookshop's initial appeal for help has been so robust http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46356343 that it had to temporarily close the online bookstore "until we can catch up with orders and correspondence. We anticipate it reopening December 1,"
Shakespeare and Company noted. "We're truly touched by the outpouring of support, and are now working to fulfill shipping orders as quickly as possible. It may be a few weeks yet as it's proving quite the task for our small team (especially with health and distancing rules)."
This week the bookseller launched Friends of Shakespeare and Company http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46356343, a one-year membership program created to support the shop, "financially and spiritually," through 2021, with membership starting at about $53.
"Along with our eternal gratitude, we'll deliver--four times a year, straight to your inbox--a bit of the bookshop, made especially and exclusively for members," the bookseller wrote. "To give you a taste, a quarterly installment might include four or five pieces--a mix of video, audio, and new writing--such as a conversation with a celebrated author, a video tour of the bookshop by proprietor Sylvia Whitman, a new poem from a renowned writer, a slideshow of never-before-seen pieces from our archives, and a short story read by a much-loved actor.... We are truly excited to embark on this new chapter at the bookshop with all of you!"
I watched this show on Netflix and was immediately overwhelmed with jealousy for the characters able to use New York City's famed Strand Bookstore as the setting for their game of romance. Books have always seemed to be sensual objects to me anyway, and I've long fantasized about sex among the stacks/shelves, so this show kind of scratched an itch for me. At any rate, Dash & Lily is a delightful program that I highly recommend.
Dash & Lily Team Celebrates the Strand Bookstore
Dash & Lily http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46356399, the new Netflix series based on the YA novel Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, "bookends its central love story between festive Lily (Midori Francis) and grinchy Dash (Austin Abrams) at the iconic New York City bookstore the Strand," Deadline reported."Everyoneknows the Strand," said Abrams. "It is a little bit romanticized in terms of a bookstore in New York, so I think it does lend itself to that."
Producer Shawn Levy observed: "I know that not everyone gets excited and enamored of bookstores, but I certainly do. The more unique the bookstore, the better. We know what a chain bookstore looks like. We know how the aisles look, the smell of the place, the feel of the floorboards. It's just different than independent, long-standing, baked-into-the-community bookstores and the Strand is that. You feel it in the bones of the place and in the details of the place. And that's what we tried to capture in the show."
Dante Brown (Boomer) said, "I love how they tied the Strand into the story and they're giving a business like that a chance to get some traction, especially right now."
Troy Iwata (Langston) added: "I've lived in New York for six years and the Strand is definitely a staple of the city. I know a lot of people that just hang out there. It's a place of refuge for a lot of people to go and find a new book."
Levy also noted that the production team has been doing its part to support the Strand's efforts to stay afloat: "It's just so great to have this beloved, iconic, New York establishment as the centerpiece to the series. It's especially poignant now to see the outpouring of love from New Yorkers and people in other states as well. It's really beautiful and I'm thrilled to play a small part in the love letter to the Strand the show provides."
I love that our former wonderful POTUS has a bunch of great music selections to listen to while reading his latest book. What a Renaissance man!
Barack Obama's A Promised Land Playlist
To celebrate today's release of his new book, Barack Obama shared his A Promised Land playlist http://www.shelf awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46401461, saying: "Music has always played an important role throughout my life--and that was especially true during my presidency. While reviewing my notes ahead of debates, I'd listen to Jay-Z's 'My 1st Song' or Frank Sinatra's 'Luck Be a Lady.' Throughout our time in the White House, Michelle and I invited artists like Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan to conduct afternoon workshops with young people before performing an evening show in the East Room. And there were all sorts of performances I'll always remember--like Beyonce; performing 'At Last' for our first dance at our inauguration, Paul McCartney serenading Michelle in the East Room with 'Michelle' and Bob Dylan flashing me a grin before vanishing after his performance of 'Times They Are a-Changin.' So in honor of my book, A Promised Land... I thought I'd put together a playlist with some of those songs. Hope you enjoy it."
I used to study Eleanor of Aquitaine, she was such a strong woman and a fascinating Queen. I've also been somewhat interested in the history of the most infamous diamond, said to bring a curse upon anyone who owns it.
TV: Eleanor of Aquitaine; Koh-i-Noor
Starz has optioned the rights to Alison Weir's 1999 biography Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46432797 and 2010 novel Captive Queen for a drama from writer Susie Conklin (A Discovery of Witches, Cranford) and Playground Entertainment, Deadline reported. The project will be the first in a series inspired by "extraordinary women of history." Conklin will adapt and serve as an executive producer, alongside Scott Huff and David Stern for Playground Entertainment.
"This slate of series will focus on lesser known but undeniably exceptional female historical figures while continuing the exploration of fierce characters in history," said Christina Davis, president of programming for Starz. "Alison Weir's novels are the perfect jumping off point for this collection of series from Playground, who are known for their sophisticated storytelling."
Conklin added: "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to bring Eleanor's story to life--the drama and adventures she experienced are truly epic. I'm also captivated at how a woman who lived over 800 years ago can be so strikingly modern. She's determined to live her life on her own terms, and the way she goes about that are extraordinary."
Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz46432798 by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand has been optioned for a TV drama series adaptation by 185 Carat Films, Deadline reported.
Producers Koel Purie Rinchet, Raquel Carreras and Kamayani Punia, who are currently interviewing potential show-runners and writers, said: "This famous and cursed diamond wreaked untold devastation as it was viciously ripped from one royal hand to another," the producers said. "It has ended up in its final home, the Tower of London, after being gruesomely wrested from the hands of its last owner, a nine-year-old Maharaja. The international TV and Web space has never witnessed a historical story of this magnitude, where bloodshed, love, sex, intrigue, beauty and cruelty all come together to create a layered narrative. This story, rooted in South Asia and traversing countries like Afghanistan and Iran, has a unique international appeal. It is a timely story of greed, power and appropriation regardless of cost."
Brilliant acceptance speech by a great writer, Walter Mosley. Congratulations to him on this long overdue award.
National Book Awards: Walter Mosley
In accepting the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, Walter Mosley said in part, "I love writing, its slippery slopes and foolish errands and silly puns and bone-shaking metaphors, its ability to offer over the millenia of the deep well of human invention in defiance of despots, wars, poverty and ever-encroaching technobabble. Stories can be transmitted via fiber optics, but they have yet to be surpassed by that or any other medium. Stories keep their deep connection to the human heart word by word, sentence by sentence. We, my fellow writers and I, and our readers, talk about love and solitude and dreaming and reality and truths that might not ever be uttered except by the word and the book that we read, that we write, that we interpret."
Saying there is "a great weight hanging over the reception of an award" by "the first black man to receive" the award, he continued: "We the people who are darker than blue have been here on this continent, in this storm, for 400 years. As a matter of course, we have been chained, beaten, raped, murdered, robbed of our names, our history and often even our dignity. This has been an ongoing process, an unending anguish... Is [my winning this award] a dying gasp or a first breath? Is today different from any other day over the past 400 years? I prefer to believe we are on the threshold of a new day, that this evening is one of 10,000 steps being taken to recognize the potential of this nation."
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles is a beautiful but strange fantasy/romance novel about a woman with magic who is trying to escape her previous life of being imprisoned in a golden cage with a charismatic club owner who sounds like a demon come to life (he manifests himself as a shadow with only smoke for legs). Here's the blurb:
"Vibrant imagery, jaw-dropping
set pieces, sizzling romantic tension, and unstoppable heroine Kallia
bring this ambitious debut novel to spectacular life. Fans of Caraval and The Night Circus will be delighted!" - Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn
In
a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a
daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the
Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen
danger striking behind the scenes.
As each act becomes more and
more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are
forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them
next.
The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost
The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told
The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide
Where Dreams Descend
is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut
Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and
feared, and no heart is left unscathed.
"[A] spellbinding
melody of a book, and the true magic is how Angeles puts all the best
parts of an enrapturing theatrical performance onto paper and ink. From
the gripping twists in the first pages all the way to the final,
heartbreaking crescendo, Where Dreams Descend will surge you to your feet in a standing ovation.” – Sara Raasch, New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy
I agree with Sara Raasch in her review about the book being spellbinding and melodious, because the prose is like a hypnotic song that leads you on through the plot as if you're in a fever dream. However, there is no resolution at all to the book, so by the end we are still left with the great mysteries of who Kallia is, and how Demarco is going to get her back. There was a lot of drama, but not a lot of resolution to the beats of the stage performance, and I felt somewhat cheated by that. Still, like the Night Circus, it's a beautiful book full of lush and gorgeous descriptions and magical happenings. If you like stage magic and "real" magic and strong female protagonists, you won't want to miss this book. I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to the aforementioned magic lovers.
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