March is just flying by, and as we ease into St Patricks Day next week, I'd like to show some hopeful tidbits about the ongoing Russia/Ukrainian war. As the Russian invasion continues, many independent booksellers worldwide are expressing their support for Ukraine with fundraising initiatives, reading lists, book displays and more.
Powell's Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375921, Portland, Ore., donated 20% of all Powells.com sales from March 4 to CARE's Ukraine Crisis Fund, noting: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is indefensible. The unprovoked attack has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands more. There is an urgent need for humanitarian aid for those who have been forced to leave their homes and for those who have remained in Ukraine fighting for sovereignty."
This is an especially hopeful idea of groups coming together to support refugee children.
Children's Book Community Supports Ukrainian Refugee Children
Jadzia Jędryas, publisher of the Polish children's book publishing house Dwie Siostry (the originating publisher of the Big Picture MAPS series, now an imprint of Candlewick), together with the Polish Reading Promotion Foundation https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375950, have begun a campaign to make books available to Ukrainian refugee children sheltering in Poland.
The Polish Reading Foundation--a fund that aims to level the playing field for children via reading (Jędryas's Dwie Siostry is a founding member)--launched the fundraising effort on Friday, February 25. The goal is to buy books from Ukrainian publishers, then transport them to Poland and distribute them to Ukrainian children and their families in Poland. The Foundation has secured both a warehouse and distribution for free; funds raised will go solely to purchase books.
Jędryas explained that a purchase of books from Ukrainian publishers not only assists children in need but also supports those publishers' ongoing existence at this challenging time. The books will be distributed gratis to each of the already more than 100,000 refugee children sheltering in Poland.
I always enjoy reading about the latest adaptations of classic literature to movies or TV series. This looks like a fun modern adaptation that I will look forward to seeing this summer.
Movies: Fire Island
Hulu shared a first look at the upcoming Fox Searchlight film Fire Island https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375992, "inspired by another (albeit, much longer) miniseries, the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice," which screenwriter Joel Kim Booster "would watch with his mother 'at least once a year,' " IndieWire reported. Jane Austen's novel was a cornerstone for the project, as was the 1995 interpretation, Clueless. Fire Island premieres on Hulu on June 3.
Directed by Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), the "gay-centric rom-com centers on a group of friends who embark on a week-long vacation filled with hook-ups, debauchery and friendship make-or-break moments," IndieWire wrote. The cast also includes Booster, Bowen Yang, Zane Phillips, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, Torian Miller and Margaret Cho.
"I can't even tell you how many times I've watched Clueless, from a time before I even understood most of the jokes," Booster said. "Jane Austen's observations about the way people are awful to each other without being awful to each other--I was like, 'Oh, my God. This is shade. This is what gay men do all the time.' "
Yang (Saturday Night Live) added, "A Jane Austen narrative meeting an Asian-American narrative meeting a queer narrative: Those three helices come together in a way that's greater than the sum of their parts. And to say that something is greater than a Jane Austen narrative is insane, unhinged of me, to do. But I said it."
RIP to this great bookstore kitty cat.
Bookseller Cat: RIP Celeste at Talk Story Bookstore
Ed Justus, co-owner of Talk Story Bookstore, Hanapepe, Hawaii, recently posted a tribute marking the loss of the shop's long-serving bookseller cat. It read, in part: "At 19 years old, 'Celeste' has passed away https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51405674.
Affectionally known as 'The Boss' or more popularly by her Instagram handle 'Celeste_the_Cat_Boss,' she spent her life doing exactly what she wanted to do: sleeping in her basket behind the desk, getting treats on demand (often ringing a bell to do so), and glaring at the customers as they adored her. Calculating to human years, Celeste lived to be 87....
"When Talk Story Bookstore began in 2004, Celeste moved into the store and became 'The Boss.' Over the years, she shared the store space with many cats which have come and gone, but Celeste was always there, a fixture of the bookstore. In her life, she must have encountered hundreds of thousands of people, making an impression upon them for better or for worse. Celeste has had videos made of her, been interviewed on national television shows and social media streams, was a council candidate campaign manager, trended on Reddit with seventeen thousand likes and on Cats of Instagram with one hundred thousand likes, gained three thousand followers on her own Instagram and was named by Mental Floss dot com as one of the Top Ten Bookstore Cats in the World. No small feat for this 'runt of the litter.'
"Her likeness and cattitude has been immortalized in book and sticker-form by my wife, Yuriko, in the creation of the 'Mochi-Celeste https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51405676' character, who brings smiles and laughter to people of all ages. Even though Celeste is no longer with us, her spirit lives on through 'Mochi-Celeste' and in the bookstore itself.
"Even though her basket behind the desk sits empty, I still feel her presence there, judging me as I work and run the store. Or when I unlock the store in the morning, I still await her complaining meows to me that she hasn't been feed yet. I miss her. We both do. She was one-of-a-kind. Celeste had been my ever-present companion, the longest person I have ever had in my life on a continuous basis. She was family. I am grateful she shared her life with us and with all those that met her. Celeste, you were unique. You will be missed. And remembered."
The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake was a cheap ebook that I thought looked amusing and diverting, and with all that is going on in the world, we all need diversions to stay sane. This particular novel was full of characters who blush constantly, both the women and the men, and everyone seems incapable of speaking up about their feelings or communicating their passion or joy in words. Though the main character is Danish, so one would expect her to have some problems translating her ideas and feelings into English, there was only one other character who was able to actually articulate and communicate what she wanted, while everyone else stuttered and blushed and couldn't talk to one another to save their lives. It was pathetic and sad, really. Here's the blurb: The perfect recipe for hygge: make a hot chocolate, draw the curtains, snuggle under a blanket and read your way to happiness!
It's
autumn in Yulethorpe and everyone is gloomy. It's cold, drizzly and the
skies are permagrey. The last shop on the high street - an adorable
little toy shop - has just shut its doors. Everything is going wrong for
Yulethorpe this autumn. Until Clara Kristensen arrives.
Clara is
on holiday but she can see the potential in the pretty town, so she
rolls up her sleeves and sets to work. Things are looking up until Joe
comes to Yulethorpe to find out exactly what is going on with his
mother's shop. Joe is Very Busy and Important in the City and very sure
that Clara is up to no good. Surely no one would work this hard just for
the fun of it?
Can a man who answers emails at 3 a. m. learn to appreciate the slower, happier, hygge things in life - naps, candles, good friends and maybe even falling in love?
Clara, the female protagonist, is really just too sweet and kind and pretty to be real (she seems like a male fantasy of a pretty blonde Danish woman) while Joe is a complete and utter asshat who is overworked and has zero compassion or time for anyone but himself and his money-making career. I couldn't imagine what Clara would see in such a jerk, who treats her with suspicion and paranoia and sexism, only occaisionally unwinding enough to do the right thing and be kind or gentle with her...and he expects her to not even look at another guy, though he himself has shown her nothing but disdain. I just didn't buy that these characters were real enough to make sense in the cutesy plot with its sweet pink prose. I'd give it a C+, and only recommend it to those who like their romantic comedies simple and unrealistic.
If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher is yet another rom-com style book, what used to be called "Chick Lit" and is now called "Women's fiction." I really wanted to love this book, because the main character, Violet, is an advice columnist at a local newspaper. However, once again we have a cliche-ridden version of a woman who is just so perfect that she's shocked and "destroyed" when she discovers her husband plowing the local 20-something fitness fanatic in their bed at home. Because over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, you'd think someone smart enough to work in journalism and give cogent advice to anyone who writes in would be aware of the fact that most husbands cheat on their wives, especially after there has been something upsetting related to money or health that has imploded the couple's emotional well being (in this case it's miscarriage and infertility). the husband is the usual over-confident jerk who bullies and belittles his wife and then expects her to take him back once his affair has run its course (or the young woman realizes what a sh*thead he is). Here's the blurb: When an advice columnist’s picture-perfect life implodes, she opts to go rogue in this hilarious, heartwarming romance from the author of Meet Me in Paradise.
Violet Covington pens Dear Sweetie,
the most popular advice column in the state of North Carolina. She has
an answer for how to politely handle any difficult situation…until she
discovers her husband, Sam, has been cheating on her. Furious and out of
sensible solutions, Violet leaves her filter at the door and turns to
her column to air her own frustrations. The new, brutally honest Dear
Sweetie goes viral, sending more shock waves through Violet’s life. When
she burns Sam’s belongings in a front-yard, late-night bonfire, a
smoking-hot firefighter named Dez shows up to douse the flames, and an
unexpected fling quickly shows potential to become something longer
lasting.
A lot of people want to see the old polished Violet
return—including her boss, who finds her unpredictability hard to
manage, and Sam, who’s begging for another chance. But Dez appreciates
Violet just the way she is—in fact, he can’t get enough of her. The
right answers don’t come easily when Violet finds herself at her own
personal crossroads. But maybe, by getting real, Violet can write her
own happy ending.
Violet is, oddly enough, a shrinking Violet who is clumsy and keeps hurting herself with pratfalls and cuts, and she reacts to everything like a sullen teenage mean girl who burns her husbands belongings (all but his Star Wars collectables, for some stupid reason) and can't seem to confront her mother or her neighbors when they, too, treat her like crap, with judgement and bullying. She doesn't develop a spine until late in the book, and then only after a man (a local hot firefighter who saves her several times when she gets herself into trouble) repeatedly tells her that she's pretty and talented and deserves much better than her jerk husband and creepy neighbors. Ugh....why does it always have to be a man who gives a women self esteem? Why can't she see for herself that she's worthy? And why are her friends even cruel to her, laughing at her exploits and threatening her job? Blech. I didn't like any of the people in this book besides the firefighter, and even he seemed to fall into a cliche of "hero who rescues damsel in distress and falls in love at first sight." And why oh why do all the romantic novels I read nowadays have females (and males, sometimes) who blush constantly, at the first sign of attraction? I've never blushed a day in my life, and I don't know anyone who has. Anyway, I'd give this book a B- and recommend it to anyone who likes "women rising from the ashes of divorce" kind of books.
Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur is a YA romance that has a slow start but eventually picks up with a teasing plot and generous prose. Here's the blurb:
I read this author's other rom com novel, Written in the Stars, and I thought this book would be equally interesting. I loved the fact that it was set in Seattle, and highlighted nearly all the great things about this beautiful city. However, Brendon's "crush" and chasing of Annie eventually comes off as immature stalking that most women past high school age would find tedious and eventually alarming. Annie, of course, can't resist the adorable Brendon (because women aren't able to say no to a guy who is persistent, right? Blech, how misogynistic!) and eventually decides to give up her career and life to be with him, because again, that's what women do, right? They give it all up for love of a guy, never mind that they've worked long and hard to get the degrees and experience to reach their career goals...love is so much more important! Settling down with a guy and having babies is what women are for, right?! WRONG. Sexist societal BS aside, I would really like to read a romantic book just once where the woman doesn't have to compromise and/or give up everything in her life to be with the guy, who is usually vastly less successful than she is, and is most often an immature doofus. Don't these women come to resent having to give up their dreams and desires for a guy? So I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to women who have very old fashioned values and believe love conquers all.
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