Hello Bookish friends! This is my last post of September, as we start working our way into cool and lush October, which is a great month to cuddle up near the fireplace in a cozy chair with a blanket, a cup of tea and a good book or three!
The Emmy's were a subdued affair this year, but I was glad to see some programs that were based on books bring home trophies.
Primetime Emmy Winners by the Book
At last night's Emmy Awards https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49750603 celebration, book-related winners were in short supply, though The Queen's Gambit managed to pick up a pair of trophies. Bookish Emmys in major categories went to:
The Queen's Gambit, based on the novel by Walter Tevis: Outstanding limited or anthology series; Scott Frank (director for a limited or anthology series or movie)
Halston, adapted from the book Simply Halston by Steven Gaines: Ewan McGregor (lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie)
Hamilton, inspired by Ron Chernow's biography Alexander Hamilton: Outstanding variety special (pre-recorded)
When I was getting my master's degree in Cambridge, Mass, I used to shop at the Harvard Coop all the time. It was a great store with a variety of stuff, including books and records, of course, but also soaps and candies.I wish that I could see what it looks like now, after the renovation.
Grand Re-opening for the Harvard Coop
The Harvard Cooperative Society celebrated the grand re-opening of its newly renovated Harvard Coop Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49751719, Cambridge, Mass., on September 9 with a ribbon-cutting, followed by a weekend of games, prizes, live music and author events.
Located in Harvard Square, the Coop is the official campus store for Harvard University and is managed by Barnes & Noble College.
Planning the renovation of the historic bookstore began more than a year ago, and despite the disruptions presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, construction was completed within eight months. B&N College partnered with the Coop on the $6 million renovation, which is designed to provide a better, more exciting customer shopping experience and includes new flooring, lighting, retail fixtures and a community event space, as well as new heating and air conditioning systems and a new elevator.
The three-story, 28,550-square-foot building was built in 1924 in the Colonial Revival style and now features a wide selection of Harvard-branded apparel and merchandise as well as textbooks, trade books and school supplies. Founded in 1882 in a student dorm in Harvard Yard, the Coop is one of the oldest and largest college bookstores in the U.S.
This sounds like such a cool bookstore, with a brewpub sponsoring a free book group! Truly awesome, and hopefully a raging success.
Raccoon River Press, Des Moines, Iowa, Debuts as Online Store
Raccoon River , a planned independent bookstore and small press, has debuted as an online bookseller, the Des Moines Register reported https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49778918. The bookstore carries new titles in a variety of genres, and owner Jena Best hopes eventually to open a bricks-and-mortar location in West Des Moines. She also plans to start publishing the work of local writers, and submissions are currently open to authors, poets and photographers.
Best, who officially launched Raccoon River Press on April 5, left her previous career as a biologist on June 1. With Raccoon River's publishing efforts, she hopes to highlight the work of local and regional authors who are sometimes overlooked by the "big publishing houses on the coasts," and give those stories the recognition they deserve.
Best hosted a number of pop-up shops at breweries and taprooms around Des Moines this summer, and she partnered with the Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny to create a free book club. The first meeting will be held at the taproom on October 7, with participants reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune.
She told the Register that her plans for Raccoon River Press were inspired by her favorite independent bookstore, San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore.
This has been all over the news, and as a fan of Dahl's books, most of which I read when I was a kid and a preteen, I'm really excited to see what Netflix produces in terms of series and movies from RD's books.
Netflix Acquires Roald Dahl Story Company
Netflix has acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49781534, "giving it access to the full catalogue of works from the famed British author," Deadline reported, adding that the deal "extends a relationship between the two companies that began in 2018 with an initial pact that gave the streamer access to 16 titles for animation adaptations."
Netflix said it was exploring the creation of projects based on Dahl properties across animated and live action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theater and consumer products.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote in a blog post: "There is a moment in James and the Giant Peach when the Ladybird says: 'We are now about to visit the most marvelous places and see the most wonderful things!' The Centipede replies, 'there is no knowing what we shall see!' Netflix and the Roald Dahl Story Company share a deep love of storytelling and a growing, global fan base. Together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to write multiple new chapters of these beloved stories, delighting children and adults around the world for generations to come."
More great content on the way from Netflix!
TV: All the Light We Cannot See; The Business
Netflix has given a series order to All the Light We Cannot See https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49810202, a four-part limited series adaptation of Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Deadline reported that Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy "has been developing the project for a couple of years through his company 21 Laps Entertainment at the streamer, where he has an overall deal." Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is writing the adaptation, and Levy is directing all four episodes.
Levy and the producers have launched "a worldwide casting search for the lead role of teenage Marie-Laure, and actresses who are blind or low vision are especially encouraged to apply," Deadline noted. Levy, Dan Levine and Josh Barry of 21 Laps Entertainment will be executive producers on the series. Knight will also serve as an executive producer. Joe Strechay (See) is an associate producer, blindness and accessibility consultant.
Producer Matthew James Wilkinson (Yesterday) is teaming up with Poldark and Endeavour exec producer Tom Mullens on a TV adaptation of The Business https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49810203 by Iain Banks.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to adapt Iain Banks' wickedly satirical The Business for television," Mullens and Wilkinson said. "As relevant today as when it was first published, we look forward to honouring Iain's work with a powerful, entertaining thriller."
I have a friend who lives in Seabrook, and I am excited for them and for everyone else in the community, that there's this great bookstore with all kinds of books and tea and other supplies available to them.
Joie Des Livres Building Community in Seabrook, Wash
Joie Des Livres, a nearly three-year-old independent bookstore with new titles for all ages, is weathering the pandemic and helping build community in the beach town of Seabrook, Wash., the Seattle Times reported https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49810166.
Owners Kathy and Dan Ardourel opened the store with their daughter Kristin Ardourel, who manages the bookstore day-to-day. The trio had no prior experience in bookselling; to help learn the ropes they consulted with the owners of several independent bookstores in the area as well as the book buyer for Costco, Pennie Clark Ianniciello, who retired earlier this year.
The store carries some 7,500 books along with tote bags, board games, tea, art supplies, candles and other nonbook items. Genre fiction and children's fiction do well, and the store's customers have helped shape the inventory since Joie Des Livres opened. Based on customer feedback, the store's nonfiction section, particularly memoirs and local history, has grown significantly. Kristin Ardourel noted that as a cookbook lover, the store had a "decent selection" of them to begin with, and that section has continued to grow.
Joie Des Livres had not yet started hosting events before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Once life returns to normal, Ardourel wants to host author readings, writing workshops, book clubs and more. Throughout the pandemic, she added, "everybody's really rallied around us, and all of the stores here in Seabrook."
Rise and Shine Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick is a romantic comedy novel that was just recently made into a Hallmark Channel TV movie, which I missed out on watching, unfortunately, because I found out about it too late. I read this as an ebook on my Kindle, and I thought the prose was fine, but the plot had some dips here and there which slowed things down a bit. Here's the blurb:
Benedict Stone has settled into a complacent and predictable routine.
Business at his jewelry shop has dried up; his marriage is on the rocks.
His life is in desperate need of a jump start—and then a surprise
arrives at his door in the form of his audacious teenage niece, Gemma.
Reckless and stubborn, she invites herself into Benedict’s world and
turns his orderly life upside down. But she might just be exactly what
he needs to get his life back on track.
Filled with colorful characters and irresistible charm, Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone
is a luminous reminder of the unbreakable bonds of family, and shows
that having someone to embrace life with is always better than standing
on your own.
The characters are predictably odd and while I gather that their eccentricities are supposed to be charming, I found Benedict to be ridiculous and stupid, Gemma to be rude and cruel and selfish, and Benedict's wife to be something of a spineless b*tch. So they all seemed more annoying and insecure to a high degree, rather than charming. To be honest, I kept expecting some big revelation out of Gemma as to why she ran away from home and lied to her uncle...like she was pregnant or had some dreadful disease. But no, it was just childish petulance because her father was getting remarried and his girlfriend was pregnant and Gemma couldn't handle having a sibling who might take some attention away from her! I really only thought that kind of behavior only happened with children under the age of 12. Gemma does slightly redeem herself by helping Benedict find his passion for innovative jewelry making, which is good, but other than that, she seemed to be there only as a cautionary tale for Benedict, so that he could see that having children wasn't what it was cracked up to be. BTW, Benedict's sexist attempts to force his wife to have children at any cost, just so he could prove himself to be a better father to them than he was to his sh*tty, selfish brother is INSANE. Get some therapy, dude. There are a million better reasons to have children, and using them to assuage your guilt isn't one of them. I'd give this eye-roller of a book a C+, and only recommend it to people who have a high tolerance for spineless and selfish characters.
Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan is a fictionalization of the real life of Joy Davidman, who eventually married famed author CS Lewis and then died of cancer a few years later (Lewis raised her two sons from a previous marriage to adulthood). This is one of those novels that, though based on real people and events, is so richly detailed and engrossing that you find yourself amazed that such fascinating individuals walked the earth. I read this wonderful book on my Kindle, and I really wish that I'd gotten a hard copy of it, because I cherished the elegant prose and riveting plot so much that I wanted to be able to go back into it to refer to one quote or another. Here's the blurb:
Meet the brilliant writer, fiercely independent mother, and
passionate woman who captured the heart of C.S. Lewis and inspired the
books that still enchant and change us today.
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.
Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, found a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.
At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.
“Becoming Mrs. Lewis deftly explores the life and work of Joy Davidman, a bold and brilliant woman who is long overdue her time in the spotlight. Carefully researched. Beautifully written. Deeply romantic. Fiercely intelligent. It is both a meditation on marriage and a whopping grand adventure. Touching, tender, and triumphant, this is a love story for the ages.” —Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author
I completely agree with Ariel Lawhorn, this was a touching and poignant book that I really couldn't put down, though I'd read the story in a couple of books by Lewis himself, about his late in life love of Joy and her boys. Though I knew the story, this book tugged hard at my heartstrings. I'd imagine it was because this was how I met my husband of 24 years, only he was not reticent at all about beginning an affair with me (I was single and he was the divorcee). We wrote letters to one another for three weeks before we ever laid eyes on one another in person. I believe that building a friendship first, as Joy and Jack did (and as I and my husband did) makes for a more stable and secure love relationship later on. I also reveled in the exquisite prose and the female POV of the book, because I realized how hard it was for Joy to escape her abusive husband and move "across the pond" with her sons to live in another country with Jack and his brother. I also understood Joy's deep need for self expression through writing, especially poetry. I've always felt that poetry was, and is, the hardest form of writing. At any rate, this book deserves nothing less than an A+, and a recommendation to anyone interested in women and writing, and in the intersection of poetry/prose and religion.
Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy is a social science fiction novel that reminded me of The Andromeda Strain mixed with The Handmaid's Tale and Zenna Henderson's The People tales. Though the novel takes place in the 70s, initially, and 20 years later in the 90s, I found many of the themes of "science gone awry" and deeply ingrained misogyny destroying women/girls, to be quite timely in light of recent events like the unconstitutional abortion ban in the state of Texas. The bold and stalwart prose moves along the often thriller-esque plot on greased wheels. Here's the blurb: Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood in this twisty supernatural thriller about female power and the bonds of sisterhood
Josephine
Morrow is Girl One, the first of nine Miracle Babies conceived without
male DNA on an experimental commune known as the Homestead. The Girls
were raised in the shadow of controversy—plagued by zealots calling them
aberrations and their mothers demons—until a devastating fire at the
Homestead claimed the lives of three people, leaving the survivors to
scatter across the United States.
Years later, upon learning that
her mother has gone missing, Josie sets off on a desperate road trip,
tracking down the only people who might help: her estranged sisters.
Tracing clues her mother left behind, Josie joins forces with two of the
Girls, and they journey back through their past, uncovering secrets
about their origins and unlocking devastating abilities they never knew
they had.
Girl One combines the provocative imagination of Naomi Alderman’s The Power
with the propulsive, cinematic storytelling of a Marvel movie. In her
electrifying, wildly entertaining new novel, Sara Flannery Murphy
delivers a rousing tale of love, ambition, power, and the extraordinary
bonds of sisterhood.
Though they're trying to stay out of the genre ghetto by calling this book a thriller, it veers sharply into science fiction once the cloned young women start using their amazing "powers" to get themselves out of one horrific encounter with murderous religious rapists after another. As we all know, men are deeply afraid of women who don't need them and who have agency in the world, and power over their own bodies and reproductive cycles. There's nothing more dangerous than a superfluous, powerless man who feels impotent in society. (Witness the hatred of AOC, a congresswoman who has had a target on her back ever since she was elected to office. The mainly old white men who surround her in the halls of government would have her killed tomorrow if they thought they could get away with it.) Hence the daring of this book to posit "what if" parthenogenesis, ie making a baby without male sperm, were not only possible, but successfully done 9 times in the 70s at the beginnings of the women's movement? What would happen to those mothers and their daughters once they decided to break away from the narcissistic scientist who helped them? I found the plot engrossing and the characters fascinating,and I would definitely give this book an A-, and recommend it to any woman or girl overt the age of 12 who wants to take a look at what feminism and sisterhood can do if we work together.
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