Hey Bookish Buddies! Here we are coming round the corner on the final week of April, already, and heading into May, with all it's beautiful blossoms and pollen, ugh. Still, I've been diving into my TBR and have read some great new books, which I will review after these messages from our sponsor...just kidding, these tidbits are from Shelf Awareness.
I totally agree with this fantastic QOTD.
Quotation
of the Day
"I grew up going to libraries and
independent bookstores. Independent bookstores have always been a part of
my book journey along with libraries--I love libraries because I
think they make books accessible when not everybody has access to books.
And I love indie bookstores because they're so unique. Every single
one is its own little universe with its own personality, and I have so
much fun visiting indies. Whenever I go out of town, even if I'm
not on tour, I will always make it a point to search whatever indie is
local and pop in and see if they have my books and sign and promote
them. I own a cupcake shop with three locations, and I love supporting small
businesses. I write a lot of small businesses into my books for the
purpose of giving them exposure that they might not have."--Abby Jimenez, author.
This sounds exciting...I can hardly wait to see it on the big screen.
Movies:
Here
Four-time Emmy nominee Michelle Dockery
(Downton Abbey, Godless) has joined the cast of Here
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFKKl70I6akyJRhxEw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVWJb1poMLg-gVdw,
Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Richard McGuire's graphic novel from
Miramax. Deadline reported that the project "reunites Zemeckis
with writer Eric Roth, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for the first time
since their collaboration on Forrest Gump earned six Oscars including
Best Picture." Paul Bettany also co-stars. Sony Pictures
acquired U.S. rights. Miramax retains international rights.
As with the above, I can hardly wait to see these three books brought to life on TV.
TV:
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Olivia Wilde will direct a TV
adaptation of Jennifer Egan's 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit
from the Goon Squad https://www.shelf
awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFKKkOgI6akyJR9wGw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVWJGgpoMLg-gVdw
and its 2022 sequel, The Candy House, for A24, Deadline reported. She
will also executive produce along with Jennifer Fox. Wilde, whose acting credits include
People Like Us and Love the Coopers, "has become one of the more
in-demand directors in town, and this will mark her first major venture into
television as a director," Deadline wrote. She most recently directed,
starred in, and produced Don't Worry Darling, which debuted at the Venice
Film Festival. Her 2019 directorial debut film, Booksmart, won an
Independent Spirit Award for best first feature, a GLAAD Media Award for best
film, a Writers Guild Award nomination for best original screenplay
and a Golden Globe nomination for lead actress Beanie Feldstein.
TV:
City on Fire
Apple TV+ has released a trailer for
City on Fire https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFKKxLgI6akyJUtxGQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVWMXwpoMLg-gVdw,
the upcoming, eight-episode series inspired by Garth
Risk Hallberg's novel. The project, written and executive produced
by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl, The O.C.), will
make its global premiere May 12 on Apple TV+ with the first three
episodes, followed by one new episode weekly through June 16. City on Fire stars Wyatt Oleff, Chase
Sui Wonders, Jemima Kirke, Nico Tortorella, Ashley Zukerman, Xavier
Clyde, Max Milner, Alexandra Doke, Omid Abtahi, Kathleen Munroe, John
Cameron Mitchell, Geoff Pierson, and Beth Malone.
TV:
All the Light We Cannot See
Netflix had released a teaser trailer
for All The Light We Cannot See https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFKLlb0I6akyJU8jHQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iVWZT1poMLg-gVdw,
based on Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Shawn
Levy (The Adam Project, Deadpool 3) directed all four episodes of the
limited series, which will premiere November 2. Steven Knight, creator of
Peaky Blinders, adapted the book for TV.
The cast includes Louis Hofmann (Dark),
Mark Ruffalo (The Adam Project, The Avengers films), Lars Eidinger
(Babylon Berlin, Irma Vep), Hugh Laurie (Tehran, Catch-22), and Marion
Bailey (The Crown, Endeavour). The series introduces actresses Aria Mia
Loberti as Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Nell Sutton as Young Marie-Laure.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a supernatural historical fantasy/romantic thriller that I fell in love with from the first exciting chapter. Ross' prose is so lush and subtle that her sable-lined swiftly-moving plot will have you halfway through the novel before you're even aware of it. Here's the blurb:
When
two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection,
they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their
fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are
warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her
family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother
is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist
promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes
letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where
they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at
the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a
connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of
battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
This engrossing page turner was even better than I expected it to be from the reviews and blurbs that I'd read before I bought it. Also, whomever designed that cover is a genius, because it's gorgeous, but not too showy. As a former journalist, I could empathize with Iris (called Winnow by her rival lover), and her struggles to write meaningful articles and to be taken seriously when women were often overlooked or decried as being of low morals for wanting to work in a field dominated by men. Her 'rival' is a bit of an ass, who can't seem to get over himself as a wealthy high class gent who isn't supposed to want relationships with women who aren't also wealthy and high class. He does end up dropping his snobbery at the end, but I still felt that Winnow was worth 10 of him, especially as a writer. The magic typewriters that create the hot epistolary relationship between Winnow and Kitt was such a perfect use of mundane reality turned magic realism that I could hardly contain my delight. This fascinating story deserves an A+ and a recommendation to anyone who loved The Night Circus, Shadow and Bone or any good steampunk novel to grab a copy ASAP.
The Study of Poisons by Maria V Snyder is essentially a rewrite of her magnificent Poison Study book, which was the beginning of a great series, only this time the story is told from the male protagonist, Valek's point of view. Normally, I don't re-read books I've already read, but this reversal of POV intrigued me. So I decided to buy a copy and boy, was I glad I did. The story is even richer when you see it from Valek's POV. Here's the blurb: Fierce, determined, dangerous. No wonder her soul called to his.
As
Chief of Security of Ixia, Valek has spent the last fifteen years
keeping Commander Ambrose and his citizens safe. With his complex
network of spies, informers, and soldiers, it’s his job to hunt down and
capture criminals, including the intriguing Yelena.
Sensing
there is more to the story of why she killed a general’s son, Valek
arranges for Yelena to become the Commander’s new food taster, training
her in the delicate art of detecting poisons. As mysteries and a devious
plot to harm the Commander unravel, Yelena’s presence becomes crucial.
Will her intelligence, stubbornness, and survivor instincts be a help to
Valek’s investigation, or a hinderance?
A companion novel to Poison Study, The Study of Poisons
reveals Valek’s side of the story. Return to the world of Ixia and
discover just how the lovely Yelena got Valek’s cold heart pumping!
Oddly enough, there was a lot more romance and romantic thought in this version of the story, which most wouldn't believe of a male protagonist. But Valek, the icy assassin, finds brave and tough Yelena more than he can possibly resist. Synder's prose is pitch perfect, and her plot sails on high winds, without even a small bump or stall. I'd give this deliciously dangerous romance an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read her Poison Study series...you have got to read this to believe it!
Glimmer of the Other by Heather G Harris is an urban fantasy/mystery that really hits the spot if you're in the mood for something similar to Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, or Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (and I've been a huge fan of both of those series for decades). The female protagonist, Jinx, also reminded me a lot of Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin Gin Blanco, without the silver knives. Here's the blurb: I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time.
I’m
Jinx. As a private investigator, being a walking, talking lie detector
is a useful skill – but let’s face it, it’s not normal. You’d think it
would make my job way too easy, but even with my weird skills, I still
haven’t been able to track down my parent’s killers.
When I’m
hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped
up at a bar – yet my gut tells me there’s more to this case than a party
girl gone wild. Firstly, she’s a bookish soul who’s as likely to go off
the rails as Mother Theresa. Secondly, I’m not the only one on her
trail; she’s also being tracked by the implacable and oh-so-sexy
Inspector Stone.
Stone and I team up, and he shoves me into a
realm where magic is real – a place where there are vampyrs and
werewolves, dragons and trolls. And where my skills are more than just
detecting lies.
Oh, and my dog? He’s a freaking hellhound who can manipulate the magical realms themselves.
I need to find the girl.
I need to discover who killed my parents.
And I need to find out more about the attractive but mysterious Zachary Stone.
Burn through this fun, fast-paced, laugh-out-loud mix of urban fantasy and mystery.
If you like humour, heart, a strong heroine and a slow burn fade-to-black romance, check out Glimmer of the Other the first book in the addictive best-selling urban fantasy series. Written in British English.
I believe that Charlaine Harris had a series about a young woman who could tell if people were lying, and who could touch objects and tell whom they'd belonged to, and there's a series streaming on Peacock starring Orange is the New Black's Natasha Leone about a young woman who can tell when people are lying just by hearing their voices (what's fun about the series is that instead of just telling people that they're lying she literally calls "bullshit" on them). At any rate, Jinx is a fun heroine who is stalwart and brave and empathetic, though I question her falling in love with Stone so fast...I mean a no-nonsense woman like Jinx who has common sense would never just fall all over herself for a handsome face. Still, I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue part of the book, and the romance fell into place by the end, so I'd give this fun and free ebook a B+ and recommend it to those who like Gin Blanco and Harry Dresden.
Always by Sarah Jio is an odd mystery/romance that I was expecting to be like most of Jios other novels that I read, but it wasn't. The novel is based in Seattle, and the protagonist is supposedly Midwestern, so I was ready for the excitement of recognizing many places I've grown to love here in Seattle and in my home state of Iowa. Though there was some love given to Seattle area landmarks, there wasn't any for the Midwest. Here's the blurb:
Enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one
of Seattle’s chicest restaurants, Kailey Crain can’t believe her good
fortune: She has a great job as a journalist and is now engaged to a guy
who is perfect in nearly every way. As she and Ryan leave the
restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk.
She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when
their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of
her life, Cade McAllister.
When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense—everything connected and felt right.
But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul
on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered
and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has
suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps
Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps
from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes
that she must decide exactly what—and whom—she wants.
Alternating between the past and the present, Always
is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an
impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she’s willing to save and
what she will sacrifice for true love.
While I understand that many women will do anything for their "first love" or perceived "soul mate" I felt that Kailey was too much of an empath and almost a doormat when it came to "saving" Cade. I can understand her need to help him recover from a traumatic brain injury, but then to want him to become like the man she fell in love with over a decade before seems way too much like wishful thinking. I don't think she fully grasped that she's going to have to be his caregiver for the rest of his life, thereby thwarting whatever career plans she had for herself. the whole "I'll give up my dream job to be a housewife and mother to this guy" is way too soap opera/Hallmark Channel movie for my tastes. Therefore I'd give this soapy novel a C+ and recommend it to women who have martyr/savior complexes without a wisp of feminism about them.
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