Welcome! April showers have begun, as well as warmer weather and sunshine, which somehow makes the days seem more bearable during this last phase of quarantine. I've been fully vaccinated, and so has my husband, but now we are just awaiting our son's vaccination before venturing forth out into the world again, even on a small scale, like shopping for purses in the department store. The new normal is going to be quite a culture shock for me, as I've not been in a store for well over a year now. But my Easter basket was full of books (16 of them!), a beautiful hand made book bag, chocolate and one large seal-shaped pillow named Egg, so I've been happily noshing and reading this past week. Here are the latest reviews, tidbits and obits.
I loved Glennon Doyle's Untamed, and I have watched her being interviewed on podcasts and TV shows recently. I think it's great that she's the face of Indie Bookstore Day!
Indie Bookstore Day Author Ambassador: Glennon Doyle
Glennon Doyle will be the 2021 Author Ambassador for Independent Bookstore Day http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz47949592, which will be take place Saturday, April 24. Doyle is the author of Untamed, a Reese's Book Club selection that has sold more than two million copies; Love Warrior, an Oprah's Book Club selection; and Carry On, Warrior; and is a champion of independent bookstores, Bookselling This Week noted.
"I have been to one million independent bookstores. I have met the booksellers who founded them and own them. I have fallen in love with them," she said. "Zero jerks own independent bookstores. They just don't. They are--always--people who believe in and deeply invest in communities and art and ideas. And during this pandemic, in which we have lost one local indie per week, we need to prioritize investing in these local businesses who invest so much in us."
Two obituaries for great authors of vastly different genres, McMurtry for his romantic Westerns and Cleary for her wonderful Ramona children's books. Both will be sorely missed.
Obituary Note: Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz47949596, the prolific novelist and screenwriter--and legendary bookseller--"who demythologized the American West with his unromantic depictions of life on the 19th-century frontier and in contemporary small-town Texas," died March 25, the New York Times reported. He was 84. McMurtry wrote more than 30 novels and several books of essays, memoir and history. His work also includes over 30 screenplays, including the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain (with Diana Ossana, his friend and writing partner).
His greatest commercial and critical success was Lonesome Dove, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and was made into a popular TV mini-series. The Times noted that from the beginning of his career, McMurtry's books "were attractive to filmmakers," including Horseman, Pass By (Hud, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman), The Last Picture Show (starring Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd, directed by Peter Bogdanovich) and Terms of Endearment (directed by James L. Brooks and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson), which won the best picture Oscar in 1983.
For 50 years, McMurtry was also a serious antiquarian bookseller. While living in the Washington, D.C., area, he opened Booked Up http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz47949599 in 1971 with a partner, and in 1988 launched a much larger bookstore in Archer City, Tex., which he owned and operated until his death. Booked Up "is one of America's largest," the Times wrote. "It once occupied six buildings and contained some 400,000 volumes. In 2012 Mr. McMurtry auctioned off two-thirds of those books and planned to consolidate. About leaving the business to his heirs, he said: 'One store is manageable. Four stores would be a burden.' " His private library held about 30,000 books, spread over three houses. He called compiling it a life's work, "an achievement equal to if not better than my writings themselves."
From 1989 to 1991, McMurtry served as president of PEN America. The AP noted that the group's current president, Ayad Akhtar, said McMurtry was "through and through a vigorous defender of the freedom to write." In 2014, President Obama presented him with a National Humanities Medal for work that "evokes the character and drama of the American West with stories that examine quintessentially American lives."
Obituary Note: Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz47949607, creator of Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, bratty Ramona Quimby and her older sister Beezus, and Ralph S. Mouse--whose books sold more than 85 million copies--died on March 25 at age 104. The New York Times wrote that "Cleary, a librarian by trade, introduced a contemporary note into children's literature. In a humorous, lively style, she made compelling drama out of the everyday problems, small injustices and perplexing mysteries--adults chief among them--that define middle-class American childhood.... Always sympathetic, never condescending, she presented her readers with characters they knew and understood, the 20th-century equivalents of Huck Finn or Louisa May Alcott's little women, and every bit as popular."
In an article in the Horn Book, Cleary recalled as a child being disappointed by children's books, which seemed to feature "aristocratic English children who had nannies and pony carts, or poor children whose problems disappeared when a long-lost rich relative turned up in the last chapter." Thus, she said, "I wanted to read funny stories about the sort of children I knew, and I decided that someday when I grew up, I would write them.
After graduating from UC Berkeley and the University of Washington with bachelor's degrees in English and librarianship, respectively, Cleary became a librarian and worked at Sather Gate Book Shop in Berkeley and continued to be disappointed by books for children.
In her acceptance speech upon winning the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 1975, she remembered this problem again: "Why didn't authors write books about everyday problems that children could solve by themselves? Why weren't there more stories about children playing? Why couldn't I find more books that would make me laugh? These were the books I wanted to read, and the books I was eventually to write."
"She began telling her own stories, along with fairy tales and folk tales, at schools and libraries," the Times wrote, which led to her first book, Henry Huggins, published in 1950. The popularity of the book led to sequels--including Henry and Beezus, Henry and Ribsy, Henry and the Paper Route, Henry and the Clubhouse and Ribsy--as well as spinoffs focusing on some of Henry Huggins's friends, including Ellen Tebbits and Otis Spofford.
From this group, Ramona Quimby "emerged as a superstar," the Times wrote. After Beezus and Ramona, she starred in Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, Ramona and Her Father, Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona Forever and Ramona's World.
Ralph S. Mouse starred in The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse.
GRRM, who once taught English lit at my undergrad college (where I met him my freshman year) has become even more rich and famous with yet another deal for programs produced for HBO. Hopefully, these adaptations will be less bloody/gory than the previous ones, so I can watch them (I can't abide horror adaptations with politics thrown in, too depressing and disgusting).
George R.R. Martin Inks 'Massive Overall Deal' with HBO
George R.R. Martin "is founding a new content kingdom at HBO" after a signing a "massive overall deal http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz47949639 to develop more programming for the network and its streaming service, HBO Max," according to the Hollywood Reporter, which cited sources who said the contract "spans five years and is worth mid-eight figures."
HBO currently has five projects based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy world in the development stage and one (House of the Dragon) that's been greenlit to series. He is also developing for HBO the series Who Fears Death (an adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's 2011 postapocalyptic novel) and Roadmarks (adapted from Roger Zelazny's 1979 fantasy novel), both of which he will executive produce.
Noting that Martin "first struck a deal to license his A Song of Ice and Fire novels to HBO in 2007," THR wrote that that deal led to Game of Thrones, the network's "biggest and most award-winning series of all time." He also has several projects in the works beyond HBO.
I'm really looking forward to this series, created and produced by an all-female team.
TV: Pieces of Her
Nicholas Burton (Damaged) and Aaron Jeffery (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) will play recurring characters in Netflix's dramatic thriller series Pieces of Her http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz48059562, starring Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote. Deadline reported that the eight-episode series, based on the 2018 book by Karin Slaughter, "comes from an all-female creative team led by Charlotte Stoudt, Bruna Papandrea, Lesli Linka Glatter and Minkie Spiro, who will direct the season."
Written by Stoudt, who serves as showrunner, Pieces of Her's cast also includes Jessica Barden, David Wenham, Joe Dempsie, Jacob Scipio, Omari Hardwick, and guest stars Terry O'Quinn, Gil Birmingham and Calum Worthy.
Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg is the second and final novel in a duology that began with Spellbreaker, which I reviewed last month. Set in the latter days of alternative Victorian England, This book follows a talented young spellbreaking mage who is being hunted by an insane master magician out to steal a spell that would turn the world's population into her puppets. Here's the blurb:
England, 1895. An unsolved series of magician murders and opus thefts isn’t a puzzle to Elsie Camden. But to reveal a master spellcaster as the culprit means incriminating herself as an unregistered spellbreaker. When Elsie refuses to join forces with the charming assassin, her secret is exposed, she’s thrown in jail, and the murderer disappears. But Elsie’s hope hasn’t vanished.
Through a twist of luck, the elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey helps Elsie join the lawful, but with a caveat: they must marry to prove their cover story. Forced beneath a magical tutor while her bond with Bacchus grows, Elsie seeks to thwart the plans of England’s most devious criminal—if she can find them.
With hundreds of stolen spells at their disposal, the villain has a plan—and it involves seducing Elsie to the dark side. But even now that her secret is out, Elsie must be careful how she uses the new abilities she’s discovering, or she may play right into the criminal’s hands.
While I appreciated Elsie's determination to find and stop the evil master magician from killing more people or enslaving them, Elsie's constant self-abegnation and self-loathing, along with her feelings of unworthiness made her seem weak and silly and blind to the love that her friends and family had for her. She seemed determined to always see the worst in herself and her situation, and was pretty spineless and whiny about it all through the book. Still, Bacchus stood by her and loved her throughout all that nonsense, though she tried even his loving patience. The author left us hanging as to whether or not Elsie and her brother Reggie were reunited with their little sister, but that was a minor problem in the end. Holmberg's prose is snappy and clear, while her plot glided along like skates on an icy pond. I'd give the novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who read the first book in the duology.
The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear is the 16th Maisie Dobbs mystery in this wonderful series that I began reading years ago. Maisie is a smart and capable sleuth who now has an adopted child to raise and a handsome American beau to deal with, on top of working for the SOE during WWII in 1941 (just before America joined the war after Pearl Harbor, which is the day after her wedding day). Here's the blurb:
As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.
October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he’s shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she’s working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects. She soon realizes she’s been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill—reasons that go back to the last war.
As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain’s intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett’s state of mind. What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter of the “series that seems to get better with every entry” (Wall Street Journal).
What I loved most about this novel was that Maisie was in top form, and that though she was stretched pretty thin with so much going on in her life, she refused to give up on Freddie's case, because she chose to believe a poor abused boy over the admonitions of her fellow calloused adults who wanted her to sweep the murder under the rug and get on with their war work. Maisie finds the culprit and though he gets his just desserts, the best part is that she ensures that Freddie's mother and sister,who has Downs Syndrome, have a decent place to live and enough food on the table so they won't starve. She also makes sure that Freddie has a therapist to help him make sense of the violence in his life. Winspear's prose is elegant and accessible, while her plot flies along on swift wings. I was glad to read that Maisie's innate intuition was back in action, and it served her well in sussing out the truth. I'd give this stalwart novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other mysteries in this series.
Dark Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow is the first book in "The Watchers" series, which reminds me of several other series I've read that basically have a tall hot guy with special powers, big muscles and ninja combat skills who is sent to watch over some sort of magical petite woman, either a witch/fairy or a mage, who is in danger from the evil forces of darkness. Said watcher, who is not supposed to get involved with the beautiful petite (but bosomy, of course) witch/fairy/mage totally ignores that prohibition and falls madly in lust/love with the female protagonist because she's just so darn good/angelic and irresistible, his dark heart senses that she can save him from himself and of course provide mind-blowing sex as a bonus. The fact that these female protagonists in paranormal romances are always child-sized and act childishly naive and innocent, thereby making the big guy protagonist into a pedophile, seems to be completely fine with the authors who repeat these tropes and stereotypes in every single book in their various series. Blech...utterly nauseating. Here's the blurb:
The Lightbringer:
Theodora Morgan knows she’s a little strange.
Her talent for healing has marked her as different all through a life
spent moving from town to town when someone notices her strangeness. Now
she has a home, and she doesn’t want to leave—but she’s been found. The
Crusade wants her dead because she’s psychic, the Dark wants to feed on
her talent, and then there’s Dante. Tall and grim and armed with
black-bladed knives, guns, and a sword, he says he’s here to protect
her. But what if he’s what Theo needs protection from most?
The Watcher:
Dante
is a Watcher, sworn by Circle Lightfall to protect the Lightbringers.
His next assignment? Watch over Theo. She doesn’t know she’s a
Lightbringer, she doesn’t know she’s surrounded by enemies, and she
doesn’t know she’s been marked for death by a bunch of fanatics. He
can’t protect her if she doesn’t trust him, but how can she possibly
trust a man scarred by murder and warfare—a man who smells like the same
Darkness Theo has been running from all her life?
Boo freaking hoo...poor Theo, who heals drug addicts and street people in the University District of Seattle, is just a green witch who doesn't know who to trust, even though the big guy who is her watcher repeatedly saves her life and, though it's obvious he has the hots for her, he doesn't lay a finger on her unless he's carrying her from a dangerous situation. Seriously, this paint by numbers plot is beneath an author of Saintcrow's considerable writing talents. The prose is clean and concise, but it's wasted on the trope-filled story, full of ridiculous situations/characters. I'd give this book a C+, and only recommend it to those who like their romances bland and unsurprising.
Damage, A Ghost Squad Novel by Lilith Saintcrow was an ebook that I got for cheap with a code from a discount website. This book was a 'military romance' novel, which is what kept it from being as trope filled as the Watcher's series book, reviewed above. Since Saintcrow is a military brat, she would doubtless know something about PTSD and it's effect on soldiers coming home from war and finding it difficult to fit back into society. Still, there was the whole "big guy watches over frail woman/nanny" plot that once again felt overused and predictable. Here's the blurb:
Reeling from trauma and divorce, Cara Halperin takes what should be a simple job with an expensive agency. As a nanny to rich children, she shouldn't have much to worry about, and her job is just complex enough to keep her from brooding. Unfortunately, the agency's sent her into a trap.
Vincent Desmarais wants to go back into the field, but instead, he's put on leave. The diagnosis? PTSD. No problem--he can pick up security work on the side to keep himself sharp--that is, if the side work isn't just as dangerous as the bloody places he's longing to get back to.
When the lights go out, Cara and her young charge have only one option: to trust the new security guy. Vincent finds himself unwilling to abandon them to fate or let them out of his sight. If the trio wants to stay alive, they've got to trust each other. . .
. . .but that may just be what their enemies are counting on.
Cara, the female protagonist, has more spine than most romantic heroines, probably because she adores the little "sensitive" boy who is her charge as she navigates the high stakes world of wealthy misogynist drug lords and their greedy minions. Vincent manages to save her and the little boy from a deadly fate, while also falling in love with both Cara and the little boy, which softened his character somewhat. While I liked Saintcrow's muscular no-nonsense prose and juggernaut plot, I felt the characters were still a bit too stereotypical. So I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to those who find military stories of redemption interesting.
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