I can't believe that the third week of September is over, and that we're coming up on October and the cool temps of fall already! Time is whooshing by on a gale-force wind! Here's some tasty tidbits and four reviews...grab a cuppa tea or coffee and enjoy!
This sounds fantastic! I really want to see it when it premiers!
TV: The Girl and the Goddess
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) will produce a series adaptation of Nikita Gill's The Girl and the Goddess https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49689144 with Boat Rocker Studios. Deadline reported that Headey, whose Peephole Productions has a first-look deal with the American Rust and Invasion producer, will exec produce alongside Gill, Peephole Productions' Tina Thor and Boat Rocker's Katie O'Connell Marsh and Nick Nantell.
"We're thrilled to be working with Lena and Peephole Productions to bring Nikita's beautiful story to the screen," said O'Connell Marsh. "We know that global audiences will be as captivated by the powerful and original storytelling as we are."
Headey added: "I've long been in love with Nikita's words, The Girl and the Goddess is a tale that just begs to be seen and celebrated. I'm so excited that we now get to tell this story."
Gill commented: "I'm delighted to be working with Lena, Peephole and Boat Rocker to bring my deeply personal tale The Girl and the Goddess to life. They're an absolute dream team."
Too many bookstores have closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic, and though some survived by using online sales of books and puzzles, others managed through the support of their communities to restoring indie bookstores to their rightful place. It's important now that brick and mortar stores are opening up and starting to see increased traffic and sales that people remember that if we don't shop at real bookstores they will cease to exist.
Bookstore Recovery From Pandemic
"As booksellers continue to recover from the financial and emotional cost of the pandemic, publishers must commit to supporting bookshops https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49717237 and 'reframe the conversation' around recovery," BA Conference delegates were told during an event featuring Halls and American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill, who appeared virtually at the event, the Bookseller reported.
"We have to be careful to talk about this recovery in a nuanced way. We don't want publishers to say 'oh, it's fine,' " said Halls. "We need them to keep paying attention and keep coming back with decent terms on the high street sector, the bricks and mortar sector. Otherwise, without that attention, they will just turn away again, and we can't have that." Hill noted that the Covid-19 crisis had put American indies "in a vulnerable position right away" and the lockdowns had "exposed some of the cracks" that were already apparent in the indie scene. "What was critical during the pandemic is still critical--ongoing commitment [by publishers] to putting their money where their mouth is in supporting the bookstores long term, and recognising the value they bring to the ecosystem."
I used to read this book to my son when he was little, and I am thrilled that it's being made into a movie.
Movies: Lyle, Lyle Crocodile
Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians) will co-star opposite Javier Bardem and Winslow Fegley in Lyle, Lyle Crocodile https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49717274 for Sony Pictures, Deadline reported. Will Speck and Josh Gordon are directing a script being adapted by Will Davies. The film is based on the classic children's book by Bernard Waber. The film will be released November 18, 2022.
Speck & Gordon produce alongside Hutch Parker, with Dan Wilson executive producing for Hutch Parker Entertainment and Kevin K. Vafi for Speck & Gordon. Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, the Oscar-winning songwriting team (La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen), are writing original songs for the movie and also executive producing. Brittany Morrissey is overseeing the project for the studio.
I am a long time fan of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, especially the early ones where Maisie used her semi-psychic intuition to help her solve crimes. In the more recent editions of the series, she uses no intuition at all, and it's like it never existed, which is sad. But Maisie is still a smart and fascinating character, a nurse with compassion and loyalty and determination who, with the help of her sidekick Billy, manages to always do the right thing and save the day/solve the crime. I am really looking forward to this TV series, and I hope that they don't tart up our sensible heroine to make her some kind of Downton Abbey glamorous toff.
TV: Maisie Dobbs Series
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton's HiddenLight Productions "has its eyes on a new scripted project" based on Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49719523 of novels, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which noted that HiddenLight has acquired the film and TV rights to the series of 16 books as its "inaugural fiction option."
Speaking recently at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention via video link, Hillary Clinton said: "One of our favorite books that Chelsea and I have shared over many years is a book about a character called Maisie Dobbs, which is a series about a World War I field nurse who turns into a detective, and we just optioned it. It's an international bestseller by Jacqueline Winspear, and we love the character. It goes from World War I to the Spanish Civil War to World War II. She comes of age in a time of great social upheaval."
I remember back when I was writing professional reviews, how I found too many of my fellow reviewers breaking ranks (and in some cases, policies that they'd signed off on to not sell their ARCs) and selling their ARCs on Ebay or Craigslist. It really bothered me at the time, because I would never do such a thing, though I felt strongly that reviewers should be paid more than a pittance for their work/reviews, which often took many hours to produce. I finally gave up on reviewing self published books, because the amount of time and effort that I was putting into creating the review wasn't reflected in the amount I was paid (and I discovered that the review services were being paid hundreds of dollars for these reviews that they did nothing to generate, while I was paid anywhere from 50-75 per review, which just unfair at best). So I gather things haven't gotten better since I stopped doing professional reviews about 12 years ago. Robert Gray of Shelf Awareness reports on the business of selling ARCS (advance reader copies) for a profit.
Robert Gray: What Is an ARC Worth?
My desktop is full. My bookshelves are full. My e-reader is virtually full (just kidding). I've been fending off ARCs for three decades. It's one of life's little (and sometimes great) pleasures. One thing I've never considered doing, however, is selling an ARC.
In addition to moral and/or ethical reasons for this decision, I must confess that generally when I've finished with an ARC, even one that might be considered valuable somewhere, my copy is in no condition for the market, online or otherwise. As evidence of my long criminal record regarding mistreatment of advance reader's copies to the point of devaluation, I would submit Exhibit A: a 1994 signed and slipcased ARC of Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernares. More on this later.
I guess it's safe to say that my perception of ARCs does not have anything to do with their retail value, though it wasn't a shock when I read the Wall Street Journal's piece ("Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and Others Whose 'Not-for-Sale' Books Are Fetching Thousands last month reporting that an ARC of Sally Rooney's now mega-bestselling novel Beautiful World, Where Are You had sold on eBay for $79.99 (with tote bag), while another advance copy went for about $200 earlier this summer. An ARC of Jonathan Franzen's forthcoming Crossroads was recently listed on eBay for $165.
ARCs "can draw a bidding frenzy, especially inside the literary world," WSJ noted. "One publicist described Rooney's galleys, along with Ottessa Moshfegh's, as 'almost like trading cards' among junior publishing employees. Early, unfinished versions of classic novels have long been collectible, with some fetching astronomical prices. This is especially true for early-20th-century books, when advance copies were rare and tended to be made with higher-quality materials. They can also provide a window into a canonical author's process--highlighting revisions made between drafts, say--and may include handwritten corrections."
Among the examples listed were an uncorrected advance copy of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row ($35,000); an early version of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea ($28,000); an uncorrected proof of Stephen King's Carrie ($3,000), and, just last May, an uncorrected version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that sold for over $29,000.
"FSG policy does not condone any reselling of advance reader copies," said Sarita Varma, director of publicity for Farrar, Straus and Giroux, which publishes Rooney's and Franzen's books in the U.S. "Each copy clearly indicates that it is not for resale."
David Levithan, publisher and editorial director at Scholastic, observed: "This has always been a conundrum with ARCs. At BookExpo, or the American Library Association Conference, you would see people literally picking up every single galley they could find and getting them signed. Authors used to joke, 'Should I make this out to eBay?' because they didn't want a name, they only wanted a signature."
Social media has upped the ante. In addition to critics galley-bragging on Instagram and authors sharing images of their friends' books on Twitter, WSJ noted that "there are online communities built around ARC-trading and galley-swapping, especially on the resale site Depop. Users will post ARCs and galley wish lists, alongside the books they have to offer in exchange."
It's an international game. Regarding that legal gray area the words "not for sale" printed on an ARC fall into, the Guardian wrote that "publishers remain their legal owners. This means that technically, a publishing house could recall an ARC at any time--but this is largely unheard of. And since proofs of big releases have only recently become such a hot commodity, publishers have not traditionally had to police ARC sales stringently--and have generally been willing to turn a blind eye to a small number of proofs being sold in charity shops."
I'm an innocent. Many of the ARCs that have passed through my hands over 30 years as a bookseller and then editor experienced the same fate as my precious copy of Corelli's Mandolin. It was sent to me at the bookstore by Pantheon, along with a promotional letter from the late, great Sonny Mehta ("Every now and then I pick up a novel that provides a shock of recognition...."). I'm sure I was on that particular mailing list because a couple of years before, I'd been one of the indie booksellers nationwide evangelically handselling Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient (literally the ARC that changed my life ).
In 1994, my Corelli's Mandolin ARC was consumed in the best possible way: marginal notes, underlinings, dog-eared pages, broken spine. Devalued, as it were. And yet, it has a place of honor on my bookshelves. Still tucked inside it is a promotional bookmark Pantheon sent out at the time, with Corelli's on one side and The English Patient on the other. That's a link I do value, all these years later.
Priceless, you might say.--Robert Gray,contributing editor
The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin is a fantasy novel that could be considered a YA romance, at a stretch. This is one of those books that gets a ton of good ink before it debuts, and it was recommended to me more than a few times, as I like YA fantasy/magic stories with a strong female protagonist. While I'm aware the young woman, Clara, at the heart of this story is somewhere in her late teens/early 20s, she comes off as terribly immature and spineless, as well as somewhat b*tchy a couple of times throughout the novel. So much as I tried to like Clara, halfway through the book I wanted to shake her and say "For heaven's sake, you have all this power, just learn to use it and quit whining already! Stop with the guilty conscience over things/people/situations you have no control over!" Here's the blurb: In a world where witches control the climate and are losing control as the weather grows more erratic, a once-in-a-generation witch with the magic of all seasons is the only one who can save earth from destruction. But as her power grows, it targets and kills those closest to her, and when she falls in love with her training partner, she's forced to choose between her power, her love, and saving the earth.
For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, but now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic; the storms, more destructive. All hope lies with Clara, a once-in-a-generation Everwitch whose magic is tied to every season.
In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It's wild and volatile, and the price of her magic—losing the ones she loves—is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.
In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she's the only one who can make a difference.
In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she's terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.
In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves...before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.
I did like Sang, who was calm, and I liked her familiar cat, and the exploration of climate change that requires the help of everyone, witches and non-talented people, to resolve the terrible effect it's having on the weather and the earth. And I enjoyed the HEA. The prose was skillful and lush, while the plot moved along at tornado-like speed. I felt as if the author was building on a love of astrology/tarot and Harry Potter-style magics to build a fairly realistic world that was engrossing without being too fable/folklore-ish. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who likes coming of age witch stories that involve real world problems.
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu is a gothic and sumptuous novel with riveting post apocalyptic world-building and strong characters that will keep readers turning pages all night long. Here's the blurb: Sixth Sense meets Stranger Things in T. L. Huchu's The Library of the Dead,
a sharp contemporary fantasy following a precocious and cynical teen as
she explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh.
Ropa
dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and they sure do love to
talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those
they left behind. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless
enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching
children – leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. It’s on Ropa’s
patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns
will rock her world.
Ropa will dice with death as she calls on
Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. And
although underground Edinburgh hides a wealth of dark secrets, she also
discovers an occult library, a magical mentor and some unexpected
allies.
Yet as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?
This is one of those books that might go unnoticed, which would be a shame due to the strong protagonist and rigorous prose that, along with a plot that never lets up on the thrills and chills and mystery, never allowing the reader to turn away or stop reading "just one more chapter" until the end. There are some fascinating insights into the "travelers" or "Rom" people, and their fight for the survival of their culture in a world that treats the poor and POC as disposable. Though there seemed to be too much put on Ropa's shoulders, having to care for her handicapped grandmother and her little sister (and their rickety caravan) I appreciated her toughness and her compassionate heart, especially in an environment where kindness is a liability. I honestly didn't want the book to end. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys the BBC's "Ghosts" series or any other program where someone has the ability to talk to the dead, and finds them as annoying in death as they were in life.
The Confectioner's Guild by Claire Luana was a bargain e-book that I didn't expect to enjoy much, and was shocked to discover that I loved it. It was the perfect mix of YA fantasy, mystery, romance and delicious world building that keeps me up reading long past my bedtime. Here's the blurb:
A magic cupcake. A culinary killer. The perfect recipe for murder.
Wren knew her sweet treats could work wonders, but she never knew they could work magic. She barely has time to wrap her head around the stunning revelation when the head of the prestigious Confectioner’s Guild falls down dead before her. Poisoned by her cupcake.
Now facing murder charges in a magical world she doesn’t understand, Wren must discover who framed her or face the headsman’s axe. With the help of a handsome inspector and several new friends, Wren just might manage to learn the ropes, master her new powers, and find out who framed her. But when their search for clues leads to a deep-rooted conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, she realizes that the guild master isn’t the only one at risk of death by chocolate.
If Wren can’t bring the powerful culprit to justice, she and her friends will meet a bittersweet end.
The Confectioner’s Guild is a delicious YA fantasy mystery. If you like spunky chefs and twisty mysteries with a drizzle of romance, then you’ll love Claire Luana’s scrumptious tale that’s sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
The prose was as delicious as the confections that Wren makes, and the plot swooped in and grabbed ahold of me and never let go. I normally enjoy YA female protagonists with spunk and charm, and Wren delivered on both counts. I was so sad that this book ended, yet the HEA was sublime, so I couldn't be too upset about it. Wren is a smart protagonist that reminded me of Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, only less of snob. I'd give this ebook an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes beautiful fantasy world-building that is so well outlined that you want to go there and see it for yourself.
The Starless Girl by Liz Delton is another YA fantasy that has the Narnia-esque trope of a "regular" girl who falls through a door to another world, one full of magic and danger. There was an Asian theme to this ebook that I enjoyed, and I loved the separation of "light" and "dark" magic as being not inherently good or bad in and of themselves. Here's the blurb: I thought I was just a normal girl living a normal life. Until the day my mother dies and everything changes.
My normal shifts, and nothing makes sense anymore.
Suddenly
I’m seeing this glowing light in everything around me. I can’t explain
it. It’s just…there. But when a dog made of darkness chases me, I
somehow end up in a different world.
A world of magic.
Now I need to learn how to survive in this world, how to use my light to protect myself and those around me.
But
when more creatures made of darkness start appearing, I’m caught in the
middle of a war that has been raging within the realm for decades.
Mysterious forces are tearing this world apart, and no matter how hard I
try to convince myself that this is not my fight…
I just can’t walk away.
The prose was muscular and clean, while the plot marched along at a swift and sure pace. I enjoyed the young protagonist, who really grew up throughout the book, and developed a "found" family within her fellow students in this new world and school that she's destined to become a part of. I could "see" in my mind's eye all the battles and the training and the monsters and spirits that make up our heroine's world, and though she comes to understand that her mother was a denizen of this magical realm, she maintains her sense of self and her own moral code, even when she's between a rock and a hard place. I'd give this delightful book an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes fish out of water stories, or tales of wonderful worlds that you can enter from a door in the cupboard or in the woods.
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