The Sandman is Nigh on Netflix! White Noise Movie, President Obama's Summer Reading List, Eragon on TV, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, Spider's Bite, Web of Lies, Venom and Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep

Hello sweaty bookdragons! It's freaking HOT out there! Here in the PNW, it got to 103 degrees today, and there wasn't a drop of rain in the sky, which is unusual for us. I didn't want to risk incineration, so I stayed inside in the AC and read a lot and watched some great new shows on streaming services. It only got to be slightly below 70 degrees indoors (we had it down to 68 for a little while) but that's certainly better than the Mojave Desert temps of over 100! Anyway, as you can see via the tidbits below, I have more good viewing to come, especially this upcoming week.

I've loved Neil Gaiman's graphic novels and regular fantasy novels and TV shows/movies for decades. He is, frankly, a genius, and though he's my age (61) he has become more prolific as the years have marched on. I continue to delight in his work, and his interviews and sublime take on ancient characters/gods/monsters. Of course he's British, which only makes him that much better at everything. Sigh.

TV: The Sandman

Netflix has released the first full trailer for The Sandman https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWIxuUI6aozKxB_SA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCWsetpoMLg-gVdw, a 10-episode series starring Tom Sturridge and based on the DC Comics series by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg, Deadline reported. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, the project was developed and executive produced by Gaiman, showrunner Allan Heinberg and David S. Goyer. It starts streaming August 5 on Netflix.

The cast also includes Boyd Holbrook, Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Vanesu Samunyai (fka Kyo Ra), John Cameron Mitchell, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Joely Richardson, Niamh Walsh, Sandra James-Young and Razane Jammal.

"For well over 30 years, my part in Sandman adaptations was just to try and stop bad ones from happening," Gaiman said. "And fortunately, I was always successful in this.... The determination everywhere to make this and get it right has been absolutely a breath of fresh air. This is Sandman being made for people who love Sandman, by people who love Sandman, and that is so incredible for me. It's been so special. I feel like I'm on the cusp, and I cannot wait until people see this show."

 I remember reading this DeLillo novel way back when. I can only imagine what a great film it has become, with a magnificent cast.

Movies: White Noise

The Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) will open with the world premiere of Noah Baumbach's Netflix drama White Noise https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWJl-kI6aozK00kHA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCW5ahpoMLg-gVdw, adapted from the novel by Don DeLillo. Deadline reported that the project, written for the screen and directed by Baumbach, is produced by Baumbach, David Heyman and Uri Singer. It marks the first time a Netflix movie has opened the festival.

Starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, the film's cast also includes Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, Andre L. Benjamin and Lars Edinger.

Festival chief Alberto Barbera said: "It is a great honor to open the 79th Venice Film Festival with White Noise. It was worth waiting for the certainty that the film was finished to have the pleasure to make this announcement. Adapted from the great Don DeLillo novel, Baumbach has made an original, ambitious and compelling piece of art which plays with measure on multiple registers: dramatic, ironic, satirical. The result is a film that examines our obsessions, doubts, and fears as captured in the 1980s, yet with very clear references to contemporary reality."

Oh how I miss President Obama and his calm brilliance in the White House! I love a president who reads, and Obama, being the smart guy he is, reads a lot now that he's retired from the presidency. I've put a couple of the books on his list onto my own list of books to buy in the future (or get from the library).

Obama's Summer Reading List 2022

Barack Obama has released his summer reading list. On Facebook, he wrote, "I've read a couple of great books this year https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWJkO4I6aozKhtxHA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCW5GmpoMLg-gVdw and wanted to share some of my favorites so far. What have you been reading this summer?" Obama's list:

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Silverview by John Le Carre

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure by Yascha Mounk

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks by Chris Herring

 I remember this book when it was being hand-sold as a self-publishing miracle (it sold a ton of copies) by it's young and charming author, Christopher Paolini. I interviewed him several times for the Mercer Island Reporter, where I was on staff for 8 years, and he was a delight (he gave me a copy of Eragon, signed, that I still treasure). Once Scholastic bought the rights to Eragon, CP's work took off, and I gather he's now a rich and famous author...good for him! There was a movie that wasn't well received, and now they're taking another shot at it via a live-action TV series for Disney+. I hope that all goes well and I will be watching for its debut.

TV: Eragon

Disney+ is developing a live-action TV series adaptation of Eragon https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWLlesI6aozcBx0Ew~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCWZSjpoMLg-gVdw, based on Christopher Paolini's popular YA book series the Inheritance Cycle, Deadline reported. Paolini will co-write and executive produce with Bert Salke executive producing via his Co-Lab 21 banner as part of his deal with Disney Television Studios. The studio is 20th Television.

"This has been a long time coming," said Paolini in a blog post. "I can't tell you how many conversations, meetings, and messages were needed in order to reach this point. And we're still just at the beginning! However, none of this would have been possible without everyone who has read the books, supported the tweetstorms, and participated in this fandom over the years. So a huge thank you from me to every Alagasian out there. You brought the thunder."

Salke added: "It's thrilling  to be working with Christopher on a Disney + adaptation of Eragon. Like with Percy Jackson, 20th and D+ are providing a chance for us to translate these stories to film in the way their millions of fans deserve. We're incredibly excited to find the showrunner/partner who will help us bring the Eragon story to screens around the world."

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is a quirky novel that I'd read and watched the movie based on it a year ago in 2021. I forgot all about it until I started reading it again and found myself being bored because I knew what was going to happen in the end. This doesn't mean that this isn't a good book, it's funny and sweet and odd, as all Backman's best books are, its just that I don't generally like going over old ground. Still, this is for my August book group meeting, so I plowed through it anyway, and found myself laughing and crying like crazy. Here's the blurb: 

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller, the new novel from the author of A Man Called Ove is a “quirky, big-hearted novel….Wry, wise and often laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a wholly original story that delivers pure pleasure” (People).

Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Proving once again that Backman is “a master of writing delightful, insightful, soulful, character-driven narratives” (USA TODAY), Anxious People “captures the messy essence of being human….It’s clever and affecting, as likely to make you laugh out loud as it is to make you cry” (The Washington Post).

Backman's prose is always smooth and even, though it's translated, and his plots careen along like a roller coaster, swift and breathtaking. Though he does tend to put too much attention to detail in his books, his characters are so fascinating you hardly notice. I'd give this big hearted book about relationships of all kinds an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys revelatory fiction about things that go awry in all the right ways.

Spider's Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, and Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep are the first four paranormal fantasy novels in her Elemental Assassins series, which I've been obsessed with all week long. I got the first book for a song as an ebook, and I could NOT put my Kindle Paperwhite down! Estep's Gin Blanco reminded me of Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet, with some of Seanan McGuire's Toby Daye and a touch of Sookie Stackhouse (Charlaine Harris) thrown in for good measure. So I immediately bought Web of Lies after whipping through Spider's Bite in record time (3.5 hours) and after finishing that one, I dowloaded Venom and Tangled Threads because I couldn't wait to read what happened to Gin and the gang next! Seriously, don't start reading these books if you're not going to be able to binge at least the first few novels...you'll be addicted and jonesing for the next installment and you won't be able to concentrate on anything else until you've at least finished book 4, Tangled Threads. I'm already into the first few chapters of Spider's Revenge, and hoping/praying that my husband doesn't notice that I'm spending money on ebooks every couple of days. Here's the blurbs, in order:

Spider's Bite: Follow Gin Blanco, a kick-butt female assassin who moonlights at a BBQ joint in Tennessee, as she searches for the person who double-crossed her in this heart-pounding and fresh paranormal romance series. After Gin’s family was murdered by a Fire elemental when she was thirteen, she lived on the streets and eventually became an assassin to survive. Now, Gin is assigned to rub out an Ashland businessman, but it turns out to be a trap. After Gin’s handler is brutally murdered, she teams up with the sexy detective investigating the case to figure out who double-crossed her and why. Only one thing is for sure—Gin has no qualms about killing her way to the top of the conspiracy.

---

Web of Lies: 

I'm Gin Blanco. You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive. 

Venom:

What kind of assassin works pro bono?

It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most. To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists. At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

Tangled Threads:

The fourth book in the “outstanding”  Elemental Assassin fantasy series featuring Gin Blaco, who by day is a waitress at a Tennessee BBQ joint, and by night is a tough female assassin.

I’d rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings.

But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson’s front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesn’t shy away from my past—or my present. And right now I have a bull’s-eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of us won’t survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleur—or die trying—because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I’m her long-lost sibling . . . or that I’m the murderer she’s been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesn’t know just might get us both dead. . . .

Sorry for the underline of the first blurb, I have no idea why it's there or how to remove it. Anyway, Gin is just the best, a protagonist who has been through hell and back, and still manages to live a decent life and "do what has to be done" when it comes to killing bad guys. I'm not too fond of her foster brother Finn, who is a sexist creep and what used to be called a "player," but I do love that he has Gin's back, and I also love the dwarf sisters who help Gin as a cook, body disposal expert and as a healer/seer. Estep's prose is as bright as a new penny, yet it never gets too bogged down with details, though she could lighten up on the gruesome descriptions of death and decapitation. That said, I also love the romance in the books, and I'm glad that Gin has finally found someone to accept her in Owen, instead of the "uber boy scout" and resident a**hole Donovan Caine, who was fine with having sex with Gin, but was still a judgemental jerk when it came to actually accepting her work and having a lasting relationship with her. Like he was blameless himself. Ugh. I hate men who get on their moral high horse about women, when they're far from perfect themselves. Sexist idiot. Anyway, I'm glad that Gin has gotten her sister Bria on board, at least a bit, though I'm surprised her sister is also being a judgemental jerk, when she knows that Gin watched the rest of their family die and was tortured at the hands of Mab, the fire-elemental crime boss. At any rate, the plots of these novels are fast-action bullet trains and a thoroughly enjoyable ride to the final battle. I'd give them all an A, and recommend the series to anyone who is a fan of kick butt female protagonists who don't apologize for their skill or moxy. This is a long series (more than 15 books) so strap in, urban fantasy fans, it's going to be a deliciously bumpy ride!