The Water Dancer Movie, The Future of Bookselling at Tombolo Books, Book Donation Program in Castle Rock, Wash, Pearls of Wisdom Book Trailer, Time Traveler's Wife on TV, A Heart So Fierce and Broken and A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer, Better off Read by Nora Page and Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

 Good evening, fellow book people! I'm always amazed at how fast the month goes by when I look at it from a new blog post...seems like just yesterday it was blustery March weather and freezing temps. Still, I have one more post after this one to be completed in April, before we move on to the lusty month of May (as they say in the musical Camelot) and start preparing for summertime. This is post 812, BTW, which heartens me as I believe that I will be at one thousand posts within the next two years. 

I enjoyed reading this book with my library book group, who were suprisingly open to the magical realism aspects of the story. I'm excited to see what they'll do with that magical aspect in the upcoming movie.

Movies: The Water Dancer

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) will direct an adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates's 2019 novel The Water Dancer https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51762362 for MGM, Plan B, Harpo Films and Maceo-Lyn, Deadline reported. Coates, who is adapting the book for the screen, founded the production company Maceo-Lyn with his long-time friends and collaborators Kamilah Forbes and Kenyatta Matthews.

The Water Dancer marks the second collaboration between Plan B and Coates, who are also in development on the feature Wrong Answer, based on Rachel Aviv's New Yorker story of the same name, Deadline noted. Coates is adapting it, with Ryan Coogler directing, Michael B. Jordan starring and Plan B producing alongside Proximity Media and New Regency Productions.

Additional Plan B projects set up at MGM, as part of their overall second-look feature film deal with the studio, include Sarah Polley's adaptation of Miriam Toews's novel Women Talking; Cory Finley's adaptation of M.T. Anderson's novel Landscape With Invisible Hand; as well as film adapations of Chandler Baker's The Husbands, with Kristen Wiig attached to star and produce; and Lisa Taddeo's Animal, which she will adapt for the screen.

 I have two long tidbits about Tombolo Books that were gleaned from Shelf Awareness, mainly because it's a bookstore in the town I used to live in St Petersburg, Florida. I used to haunt the bookstores in St Pete, like Haslams and Wilson's Book World, but Tombolo has carved a niche for themselves in that sandy town, and I hope that they continue to thrive there.

The Future of Bookselling: Kelsey Jagneaux, Tombolo Books

Events coordinators have an essential but mighty variable role in the business of selling books. Between mics, projectors and Zoom, they're necessarily tech-savvy, but they're also capable public speakers and charming interlocutors, and detail-oriented enough to keep publishers, publicists, authors and deliveries all moving in a straight line in advance of an event. It's an impressive collection of skills, and I'm grateful for every unflappable and gracious events coordinator I've known.

Last year, I put together a two-store virtual event for Claire Cox and Daniel Lavery to celebrate the publication of Claire's debut novel, Silver Beach. Without the incredible Kelsey Jagneaux, it just couldn't have happened. She's a historian turned indie bookseller and events coordinator at the gorgeous Tombolo Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51792317 in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she also co-hosts the store's weekly New Release Tuesday video series with the excellent veteran bookseller Amanda Hurley. She began her bookselling career in May 2020.

What's it like being a bookseller in your city? What have you learned about St. Pete from selling books there?

We are in such a golden moment for indie bookstores in St. Petersburg! Tombolo is lucky to share the stage with a few really stellar indies: Wilson's Book World, Book and Bottle, Cultured Books, Nerd Out Comics and Bess the Book Bus! I would also be remiss if I didn't mention Haslam's Books, which is the largest new and used bookstore in Florida. They closed at the start of the pandemic, and we haven't heard whether or not they're going to reopen yet. It really is a deeply missed St. Pete institution.

Tombolo opened in December 2019, right before the start of the pandemic. It is a testament to the power of indies and to the incredible dedication of our owners that we not only survived, but managed to thrive through it all. I have learned too much to even begin to get it all down here, but I will say one thing: I come from a very small town in south Louisiana where you can't even have a thought without everyone knowing about it. I feel more in tune with St. Petersburg than I ever did in my hometown. I credit that to being an indie bookseller, and even more so to being the events coordinator at an indie bookstore. You meet so many incredible people: authors, readers, journalists, artists. We have hosted everyone from politicians to community activists through our events program. Tombolo has really become this little microcosm of all the wonderful things about St. Petersburg. It's just wonderful to witness from the inside.

What do you do when you're not in the store?

This question is always so funny to me because the honest answer is: read. More specifically, read on the beach. As someone who is not from Florida, the ease of access I have to a beach has not lost its charm at all, even four years later.

What is your favorite fictional depiction of a bookstore in film or on the page?

I'll let readers guess. Here is your clue: "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." In fact, I love it so much that my Instagram bio reads "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to move 'cause he is blocking the cheese plate." And I think my version carries the same depth of emotion as the original, don't you? --Jeff Waxman

 I would love to visit this place, but I don't think I've ever been to Castle Rock (I live in the Western part of the state of Washington). This is a great idea for getting kids reading.

Bookstore Owner Revives Book Donation Program

Jennifer Engkraf, owner of Vaults Books & Brew https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51791073 in Castle Rock, Wash., is working to replace a book donation program that provided free books to local students. According to the Daily News, Engkraf hosted her first book giveaway in November and is planning another for May. Going forward she hopes to run giveaways twice per year for Castle Rock third-graders and will form a 501c3 to collect donations.

Engkraf, who has a background in early childhood education, told the Daily News that she is focusing on third-grade students because they are at a critical stage for literacy, and that after third grade it takes students longer to catch up on their reading skills.

She added that the books she received as a child helped foster her lifelong love of reading, and she wants to provide local students with the same experience. "Some kids go home and don't see books and think reading is just for school. I want to normalize reading."

The Tampa Bay Times used to be the famed St Pete Times, which was a fine paper that I read when I lived there, and I'm glad to see that they're still doing great local business profiles. 

Tombolo Books Owner Alsace Walentine: 'I'm a 100% Optimist About the Future'

A conversation with Alsace Walentine co-owner of Tombolo Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51791087, St. Petersburg, Fla., was featured in the Tampa Bay Times, which noted: "At a time when so many businesses have failed, Tombolo has done surprisingly well, hosting authors and legions of avid readers." Among the highlights of the q&a:

How did you come up with the name? We were literally going through the dictionary looking at words for something meaningful. Tombolo is a geographic term for a type of sandbar that connects an island to the mainland A tombolo connects a lone island, and I thought that's what a really good independent bookstore does, it creates connections to this whole world of ideas and stories, a whole world of authors and other readers.

Have customers been drawn to certain types of books during the pandemic?

We sold more of the plague that (first) year. I think it's really interesting how many authors had books coming out at the very beginning of the pandemic. It had been about 100 years since the Spanish flu so I think a lot of authors were just looking at history. Certainly a lot of people want to escape the pandemic so a lot of shoppers are buying things that have nothing to do with it. We always intended to have a strong Florida nonfiction section because there are so many tourists, but it's also important to understand your history.

Tampa's Inkwood Books has closed and Haslam's in St. Petersburg hasn't reopened since the pandemic. Are you worried about the future of independents like Tombolo?

I'm a 100% optimist about the future. I have unwavering faith in people's desire to read physical books and have a place to go and browse a curated selection of physical books.

 This book looks hilarious, so I am going to try and track down a copy.

Book Trailer of the Day: Pearls of Wisdom

Pearls of Wisdom: Advice from a Dead Squirrel Who Knows Everything https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51794059 by ME Pearl and Georgette Spelvin (Apollo Publishers).

 I read this book many moons ago, and I did see the original movie, though I wasn't impressed with the casting or the way the film was directed. Now a new version is coming out on May 15 on a streaming service, which I am excited to see, especially with Steven Moffat as producer.

TV: The Time Traveler's Wife

HBO has released the official trailer for its six-part series The Time Traveler's Wife https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51794066, based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger, Deadline reported. Set to premiere May 15, the project stars Rose Leslie, Theo James, Desmin Borges and Natasha Lopez.

"What is thrilling of the interaction of time travel and a love story here, is it makes the most common phenomenon of a completely happy marriage, interesting again," said writer and executive producer Steven Moffat during the show's TCA presentation in February. "Love stories, or love movies, tend to end at the altar. We never do the bit where people are perfectly happy for decades because it seems like a dramatic thing. By scrambling it all up and constantly reminding you that love is inextricably linked to loss, which is a cheery thought, you make this very common phenomenon of a happy marriage, thrilling and full of attention and tragedy."

The Time Traveler's Wife is produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television with Moffat, Sue Vertue, and Brian Minchin executive producing via their Hartswood Films alongside Joseph E. Iberti and director David Nutter.

 A Heart So Fierce and Broken and A Vow So Bold and Deadly are the last two YA fantasy books in the Cursebreaker series by Brigid Kemmerer, which are follow ups to A Curse So Dark and Lonely which I believe that I read a few years ago. Anyway, as with much YA fantasy there's several romantic subplots, all of which involve strong young female protagonists standing by their broken and angry guys, while trying to de-escalate the wars that they want to fight and rehab them to dilute their toxic masculinity. The first book was a kind of Beauty and the Beast/Snow White retelling (where Snow White was çh of these women have to die in order for our heroes and heroines to finally bring peace to their countries and move on with their love lives. Here's the blurbs:

In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places.

Find the heir, win the crown.
The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.
Grey may be the heir, but he doesn't want anyone to know his secret. On the run since he destroyed Lilith, he has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother's violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

Kingdoms will clash. Choose your side.
The incredible conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreaker series.

Face your fears, fight the battle.
Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone--even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.

Fight the battle, save the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But after enjoying decades of peace once magic was driven out of their lands, some of her subjects are angry Lia Mara has an enchanted prince and a magical scraver by her side. As Grey's deadline draws nearer, Lia Mara questions if she can be the queen her country needs.

As the two kingdoms come closer to conflict, loyalties are tested, love is threatened, and an old enemy resurfaces who could destroy them all, in this stunning conclusion to bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreaker series.

 

What is so great about this series is that the prose is so smooth and lovely that you're more than halfway through the book before you realize that you've been turning pages for the past 5 hours without stopping for food or bathroom breaks. It's unputdownable, and the well crafted plots aid in the intense readability. I actually bought an ebook copy of " A Heart So Fierce..." and was halfway through it before I realized I'd read it before in regular paperback version (and I blogged about it! How could I forget?! I must be getting old!). But I decided to re-read it anyway, as I'd forgotten a lot about the characters and their situation in the year since I read it. So "A Vow So Bold" was familiar territory by the time I downloaded it onto my Kindle, and I delved into the final tale with relish. My one minor complaint isn't just with Kemmerer's series, it's with all fantasy romances (or contemporary romances, or paranormal romances, etc) that any time a woman gets pregnant, the author always uses vomiting as the sure sign that a bun is in the oven, so to speak. My problem with that is that not all women get nauseated and barfy during their first trimester. My mother had no nausea with any of her three children, nor did a friend of mine who had a baby over a year ago. I had nausea for about a month, but it was easily assuaged by a saltine cracker in the morning and a bit of ginger ale if I was really feeling it later in the day. I also, (and I've said this before in other reviews of romances) really do not understand why so many authors have their female (and in this case, male) characters BLUSH anytime anything even remotely romantic or sensual or sexual happens during the chapter. The women also giggle frequently, even though here they're supposed to be fierce warriors. I've not giggled since I was in elementary school (and even then it was rare) and I can't imagine a grown woman doing so with any frequency, especially if she is trying to be a dignified leader. Please, writers, get rid of these tired, lazy and infantilizing tropes! There are many other ways to tell if a woman is pregnant, and few women past the age of 6 need to blush and giggle like children. That said, I did enjoy this series tremendously, and I'd give these final two books an A and a B+, and recommend them to anyone who enjoyed the first book in the series.

Better Off Read by Nora Page was a cheap cozy bookmobile mystery that I thought might be a quick and easy read, and I was curious about the 70 something heroine, who is a fiesty librarian who is not ready for retirement anytime soon. Here's the blurb:

When her best hope of saving her storm-damaged library is found murdered, senior librarian Cleo Watkins hits the road in her bookmobile in search of justice

Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins won’t be shushed when an upstart young mayor threatens to permanently shelve her tiny town’s storm-damaged library. She takes to her bookmobile, Words on Wheels, to collect allies and rally library support throughout Catalpa Springs, Georgia.

However, Cleo soon rolls into trouble. A major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all available books on getting away with murder. He’s no Georgia peach, and Cleo wonders if she should worry about his plans. She knows she should when she discovers him bludgeoned and evidence points to her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland.

Sure of Mary-Rose’s innocence, Cleo applies her librarian’s sleuthing skills to the case, assisted by friends, family, and the dapper antiquarian bookseller everyone keeps calling her boyfriend. Evidence stacks up, but a killer is overdue to strike again. With lives and her library on the line, Cleo must shift into high gear to close the book on murder in Better Off Read, the charming Bookmobile series debut by Nora Page.

Cleo and her friends all come off as meddling old biddies who need to slow down on the gossip and snooping. The truly mean and cruel people do end up getting their comeuppance, which is great, but the whole book felt a bit too "paint by numbers," as if someone just gave the author a standard "cozy mystery outline" and then had them fill in the blanks with a smart but grumpy librarian (who of course is single and has a cat, a sure stereotype for librarians), some of her crazy friends and their young but foolish grandchildren, facing off with the town's greedy mayor (politicians are always evil) and working to save the beloved town library and bookmobile from ruin of one type or another. The prose was commonplace and the plot easily solved, but I'd still give this mystery a B- and a glass of real Southern Sweet Tea.

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman is supposedly an adult contemporary romance, but like the authors previous works, it reads exactly like a YA romance. It's also a Mary Sue book that posits what many young women dream of, as an ordinary young Jewish journalist gets the chance to turbo charge her career by interviewing the most recent hot young guy movie star, and watch as her crush turns to love when she "gets to know him" through a series of improbable cheesy situations, one of which leads readers of the article to assume that she had sex with the movie star since she stayed in his home overnight. So dreamy, right? Yeah, but not even remotely realistic. I was a journalist for over 35 years, and I interviewed more than a few celebrities, and while they're usually nice people (they have to be very patient and put their best foot forward in order to get a good article promoting their work), they're not going to let some ordinary fangirl journalist into their private life just because she's charmingly awkward and gives off a few "manic pixie dream girl" vibes. Chani (the journalist with the unprofessional crush and a crap ton of insecurities) isn't even a good writer, certainly not good enough to get high profile work that affords her to make a decent living. Here's the blurb:

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob—and reunites with him ten years later to discover exactly how he feels about her in this sexy and engrossing novel
Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned. 
 
Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes.

Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

Insert huge eye roll here at the ridiculous enthusiasm of the preceding blurb. This is by no means an irresistible novel. The plot is so predictable and the prose so bland that I could have written this book in my sleep. Even the ending is nauseatingly easy to foretell, in that of course Gabe falls in love with and marries Chani, because he wants someone "real" ya'all...not like all those gorgeous fake women in Hollywood who drove him to drink! LOLOLOL! So guys in the movie industry can be real and down to earth and still be perfect looking and sexy, but women who are gorgeous can't be? Misogyny, much?! Beautiful movie star women are all destined to be fake, greedy, stupid b*tches, whom no real man could ever live with for long, because they're so high maintenance and expensive....like they don't have their own money to spend, so they're going to go after your bank account just on principle?! Really?  Also the assumption that none of them are smart is just a bridge too far...there are plenty of smart and gorgeous actresses out there who have college degrees, their own bank accounts and full lives. All of the stars that I met were real people, and some were nice (some were not), but not one of them would have slept with me, nor would I have wanted them to, as it's unprofessional as heck, at the very least. There are rules about this kind of thing, or at least there were back when I was a journalist. For shame, Ms Sussman, for making my profession sound like a joke. I would give this book a big raspberry and a C, and I can't think of anyone I would recommend it to, unless it was a colleague so they could laugh at its completely absurd premise.