Hello book lovers, and welcome to the second week of April, which has been wild and crazy here at our house. Turns out with spring comes animals trying to make nests to birth and raise their young, and a few days ago we discovered that something has been gnawing holes (for nesting) into the side of our home in the middle of the back deck. So now we've got to find an exterminator or someone who can trap whatever beasts there be, and get them away from our house before it becomes infested, shudder. The weather has also been crazy, with temps in the 80s one day and the 40s the next. There have been days that started out like summer, but by the afternoon, it was hailing or cold rain was coming down in buckets! Despite, or perhaps because of this, I've been reading up a storm. So lets get into it, shall we?!
I saw a car crash into a business once when we lived in the Phinney Ridge area of Seattle. It was horrifying, but apparently an older person pressed the wrong pedal and instead of braking they surged forward into a store. I feel terrible for these folks at the bookstore who now have to replace the glass and books.
SUV Crashes into Rakestraw Books
"File under 'Unexpected Events,' " Rakestraw Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51699006>, Danville, Calif., posted on Facebook last Wednesday, noting that "yesterday afternoon someone drove an SUV through the front window of the bookshop Luckily no one was hurt though a lot of books were badly damaged. Susan, Anastasia, Amy, and Mark (Susan's husband) got the mess cleaned up (there were glass shards all the ways at the back of the shop); boarded up the left hand side of the shop front; and filed a police report. We will be open for business as usual today at 9:30 AM. Come say hi (and maybe buy a book!)."
This is marvelous news for Dyersville (which is near Dubuque, Iowa, where I went to college), especially in light of the horrible commercialization of the Field of Dreams, which has been turned into a tacky tourist trap by greedy out of state interests.
Bookselling News
Aslan's Square Bookstore & Coffee Shop Coming to Dyersville, Iowa
Jacey Stanbro plans to open Aslan's Square https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51700112, a bookstore, coffee shop and gift shop, at 224 Second Ave. NE in Dyersville, Iowa
Noting that construction in the building began recently, with a summer opening planned, the Telegraph Herald reported that Stanbro "wanted to open a business that had a community-focused atmosphere in which customers can meet new people. She said the business will have the capacity to seat about 50 at a time."
"This is my first (business) venture," Stanbro said. "It's a dream come true to do it.... We're doing more cozy vibes. It will be a place to go where people can work, but there will also be a kids zone. It'll be more aimed at families.... I wanted people to have a place they can go where they can have their hands on a book and escape reality."
In addition to books of all genres, including a used book section, Aslan's Square will offer coffee, tea and baked goods. Stanbro said she will announce the coffee vendor at a later time, as well as the local baker that will make the treats.
Aslan's Square will feature events, including painting nights and author readings. She added that she will partner with Fuse, a restaurant and bar in the same building, on wine-and-cheese nights as well: "I'm most excited to mingle with the community and see the growth in Dyersville."
This reminds me of Mrs Pomphrey from "All Creatures Great and Small" who used to send a hamper of fancy foods to "Uncle Herriot" whenever he treated her chubby, spoiled Pomeranian Tricky Woo.
Awards: Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Shortlists
Shortlists have been released in 14 categories, including six dedicated to books, for the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. The winners, who are voted for by the public, will be announced at a reception at Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Exchange, on May 12. Check out the complete list of book finalists here https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51730286.
Feast Your Eyes on Food: An Encyclopedia of More Than 1000 Delicious Things to Eat by chef Laura Gladwin, illustrated by Zoe Barker, is the first children's book to be shortlisted (in the Food Book category) for the awards, the Bookseller reported.
Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix was a cheap ebook that I wasn't really expecting much from, but that delighted me with a fun and fast-paced story nonetheless. The subtitle is "An opposites attract, second chance romance" and they should have added "with a lot of good humor and chemistry added to make it a great beach read." I found the prose to be clean and simple and the plot faster than an Indy 500 race car. Here's the blurb:
Opposites attract when a nerdy computer whiz meets billionaire playboy.
Melody and Jeremy have outrageous chemistry, and though you'd expect them to start bumping boots right away, they actually take their time to come to terms with their attraction and expectations of one another. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a light and fun ebook to distract them.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi was an irresistible book that I had to have because not only do I adore nearly everything Scalzi has written, this particular book is about something near and dear to my husband Jim's heart, Godzilla and other Japanese monsters depicted in movies from the 50s to more recent incarnations with special FX. Hubs prefers the classic monsters who were either Japanese actors in a rubber suit smashing through scale models of Tokyo, or stop motion animation using small scale clay or plastic models of monsters on tiny sets constructed of balsa wood and paper or cardboard. He insisted that we spend many a date night when we were just coming to know each other, watching Godzilla in the original Japanese with subtitles while hubby would deconstruct the action-packed battle scenes between monsters for me and explain that the monsters were metaphors for the nuclear bombing of the Japanese at the end of WWII. Fortunately, Scalzi goes beyond all that background to place the story in the 21st century, with all it's climate change problems, pandemics and economic stratification of society. Here's the blurb: The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi's first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy.
When
COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a
dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a
delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an
animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to
handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything,
immediately signs on.
What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the
animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at
least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named
Kaiju roam a warm, human-free world. They're the universe's largest and
most dangerous panda and they're in trouble.
It's not just the
Kaiju Preservation Society who have found their way to the alternate
world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions
back on our Earth to die.
Jamie Gray is our "everyman" character in this novel, so we see the story unfold through his deadpan sense of humor, which is a welcome tempering of the rapid fire plot. Scalzi's prose is, as usual, nearly perfect, with plenty of dialog and expansive scenes written with such a deft hand that you can almost feel the humidity curl your hair. I could NOT put this book down, and I read it all in one day, and loved every minute of it, even though I was holding my breath and fearing for Jamie's life half the time (yes, I am aware that he's a fictional character, but I was engrossed and engaged, ya'all...so sue me!) I've recommended this book in glowing terms to both my husband and son, and both say that they plan to read it soon. I'd give this book an A+, and recommend it to anyone who likes some snark and surprises with their science fiction. You cannot fail to be entertained by this novel. Plus a hearty THANK YOU to the brilliance that is John Scalzi at the height of his powers.
A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson us a beautiful, albeit Gothic YA rebooted fairy tale romance with mystery added in for flavor. The book is packaged beautifully, and the elegant prose within moves along the darkly lush plot to a gripping conclusion. Here's the blurb: From the author of Sing Me Forgotten comes a lush new fantasy novel with an art-based magic system, romance, and murder…
Myra
has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to control: she’s a
portrait artist whose paintings alter people’s bodies. Guarding that
secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their
parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor’s wife discovers
the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a
special portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead son.
Once
she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear
the boy’s death was no accident. A killer stalks these halls--one
disturbingly obsessed with portrait magic. Desperate to get out of the
manor as quickly as possible, Myra turns to the governor’s older son for
help completing the painting before the secret she spent her life
concealing makes her the killer’s next victim.
There should be a warning attached to this book that if blood and gore and corpses bother you, don't read this book, because there are more than a few scenes of death and decomposition in there, but due to the murder mystery at the heart of the plot, it doesn't seem like your average horror or teenage slasher movie at all. I was genuinely shocked by the twists in the final 1/4th of the book, and the ending left me gasping. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that it all came together seamlessly and it was well worth the shock. Myra does seem to be a bit too wimpy at times, but she forges ahead, despite her fears for her sister's life, and by the end, she's got some hard-won backbone. Her sister, who seems a bit bratty, is suffering from what we'd call Crohn's disease these days. Since this takes place back in a time when there wasn't really much that doctors could do for such a diagnosis, I appreciated the fact that Myra was willing to sacrifice her life and health to save her sister from the ravages of this horrible gastric disease that I share (to a lesser extent) with Lucy (the sister). I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes Gothic or steampunk mysteries that involve art and romance.
Well Played by Jen DeLuca is a YA theatrical romance set in modern day renaissance fairs. Because I once also toiled as a maiden at a Ren Fest, I was attracted to this novel and it's full bodied heroine. Here's the blurb:
De Luca's prose is airy, light and playful, and her plot is like a choreographed dance, where you can see all the steps coming up but are helpless to not follow them anyway. I liked Stacey and her sense of duty to her family, her ailing mom in particular, and I also liked her gratitude for having the small town upbringing that she reveled in, while also fostering a strong desire to start living her own life out in the world, far away from the small town sameness that she's been stuck in for far too long. What I didn't like about Stacey was that she seemed too gullible, (and also too shallow in her taste in men) and she never bothered to ask her mother if she was feeling well enough to allow her daughter to be set free to live her life away from home. Also, her parents seemed like extremely weak people, almost too pathetic to be realistic, who couldn't navigate illness or caregiving on their own at all, but instead basically forced their daughter into a slavish role that they never bothered to tell her wasn't necessary anymore. This made them seem not only weak but very selfish and cruel, and I was surprised that the author didn't have them apologize to their child for chaining her to their sides until she was coming up on 30 and had sacrificed her dreams of career and college for them after high school. For that reason I'd give this book a B-, and recommend it to anyone else who likes Ren Fests and falling in love with someone whom you'd never noticed before.
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