Welcome friends! It's almost June already, and here we are with another installment of what's DeAnn reading and writing reviews about? LOL! This month we lost Martin Amis and the fabulous Tina Turner, who worked for nearly 50 years to become the singing and dancing icon that she was. I remember seeing her in "Tommy" and marveling at her ability to sing, dance and act...a triple threat! I hope she's rocking out in heaven. RIP. Meanwhile I've been struggling with my Crohns and reading up a storm both in hardback/paperback form and in ebook format, where there's a lot of bargains to be had.
This has really become a problem that's gotten national attention lately, censorship and the right-wing, so-called "Christian" fascists who are attempting to white-wash literature (especially children's books) of any mention of race or racism, LBGTQ characters and anti-semitism, the likes of which we've not seen since the second world war. We must stop this horrendous attack against freedom of speech and the press.
The
National Coalition Against Censorship plans "Let Me Speak"
a celebration and annual benefit for free speech and
its defenders November 13 in New York City. Author, producer, and rapper
Raj Haldar will host. Free speech defender award recipients
include John Sargent, former CEO of Macmillan, and Juno Dawson, author of
among other titles, the often-banned This Book Is Gay. Benefit
co-chairs include longtime First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams and
Audrey Barsella, communications manager at Sourcebooks.
This movie sounds really exciting! I can hardly wait to see it when it debuts...Benedict Cumberbatch is a favorite British actor of mine.
Movies: The Thing With Feathers
Benedict Cumberbatch will star in
writer and director Dylan Southern's adaptation of Max Porter's 2016 novel
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers, Deadline reported. Titled The Thing
With Feathers https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWJl78I6ahnJBF2SQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSW5b3poMLg-gVdw, the film is produced by Andrea Cornwell
with SunnyMarch's Adam Ackland and Leah Clarke. The script was
developed with Film4, which will executive produce and co-finance. The
crow figure featured in the book will be created for the screen in
collaboration with the sculptor Nicola Hicks.
"Having been a huge fan of Max
Porter's extraordinary book and Enda Walsh's stage adaptation I was
skeptical about a film adaptation. But the experience of reading Dylan
Southern's adaptation rekindled the cinematic memory of reading this most
visceral tale of a family consumed by grief," said Cumberbatch.
"Dylan has handled the deftness of Max's kinetic poetry masterfully. It's so
well realized both on the page and in the deck and pitch. It holds all the
wildly sharp turns of changing tones and colors between the domestic
and mythic, between the despair, comedy, and every day of loss. It's a
thrilling read, and I couldn't be more excited to be taking Dylan's
cinematic vision of it to the big screen."
Porter praised Southern's sensitivity
to the different layers of the original story, noting: "Dylan
understands how this story is just as much about domesticity, awkward humor,
the silly, fun and strange routines of raising children, as it is
about inexplicable rage and pain. In Crow he has created something wild,
a cinematic monster unlike anything else."
RIP to the witty and acerbic Martin Amis.
Obituary
Note: Martin Amis
Martin Amis https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFWKnuoI6ahnd011Hw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iSWJ-ipoMLg-gVdw,
"whose caustic, erudite and bleakly comic
novels redefined British fiction in the 1980s and '90s with their sharp
appraisal of tabloid culture and consumer excess, and whose private life
made him tabloid fodder himself," died May 19, the New
York Times reported. He was 73.
Amis published 15 novels, a
well-regarded memoir (Experience, in 2000), works of nonfiction, and collections of
essays and short stories. He is best known for his London trilogy of
novels: Money: A Suicide Note (1985), London Fields (1990), and The
Information (1995). Amis's most recent book was the "novelized
autobiography" Inside Story (2020), which was shortlisted for the National Book
Critics' Circle award for fiction.
Amis's fame "built to a crescendo
in the mid-1990s. One 'scandal,' as chronicled in English tabloids like the
Daily Mail, followed the next," the Times noted, adding that in 1994,
he dropped his longtime agent, Pat Kavanagh, for the rival agent Andrew
Wylie, "whom the British press nicknamed 'the Jackal,' and a larger
advance on a novel. The amount Mr. Amis wanted, a reported $794,500 (about
$1.6 million today), was deemed unseemly."
Ultimately, however, it was about the
writing. Amis's 1984 novel Money was named by Robert McCrum in the
Guardian as among the 100 best novels written in English. McCrum called it a "zeitgeist book
that remains one of the dominant novels of the 1980s.... The thrill of
Money, which is turbo-charged with savage humor from first to last page,
is Amis's prodigal delight in contemporary Anglo-American
vernacular."
Amis published his first novel, the
Somerset Maugham Award-winning The Rachel Papers (1973), while working as
an editorial assistant at the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian
reported. His darkly comic Dead Babies was published the following
year. He worked as the literary editor of the New Statesman between
1977 and 1979, during which time he published his third novel, Success.
Amis was often compared with his Booker
Prize-winning father, Kingsley Amis. Though Martin Amis made the 1991
Booker shortlist for Time's Arrow and was longlisted in 2003 for
Yellow Dog, he never won. He once told BBC Radio 4 he wished he had
put "greater distance" between himself and his father, with
the "Amis franchise" becoming "something of a burden." He eventually wrote about his father's
death in his memoir, Experience (2000)
In a tribute, author Geoff Dyer wrote,
"I suspect it's difficult for anyone under the age of... what? 30?
40?--to comprehend the thrall Martin Amis exerted on writers now in
their 50s or above. One might have to insert a qualifying 'male'
here. Or go the other way, stop generalizing and say how thoroughly
he had me in his thrall throughout the 1980s and '90s. There were
writers I admired more but he was more fun to read than all of them
put together. I sat there aghast at his transformative impact on
language.... Every page of his writing--in any form--was steeped in
his consciousness and I was besotted by that consciousness in all its
forms. I think that's why there was such a personality cult around
Amis in a way that there could never be a cult of Julian Barnes or
A.S. Byatt. Amis was Mick Jagger in literary form."
This is another movie that I can't wait to see...it sounds exciting.
Movies:
The Salt Path
Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs will
star in the film adaptation of Raynor Winn's 2018 memoir, The Salt
Path. Deadline reported that Tony and Olivier
award-winning theater artist Marianne Elliott is making her
screen-directing debut on the project, which is "about a couple who lose
their home and days later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a
terminal illness as they embark on a year long coastal trek."
Anderson (The Crown, Sex Education) and
Isaacs (Mass, The Death of Stalin) will portray Raynor and her
husband, Moth. Elliott has directed War Horse and The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as well as seminal
revivals of Angels In America, Company and Death of a Salesman in
London and on Broadway.
In 2020, Elliott was in New York
opening an acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company when the pandemic
shuttered theaters. "I came back from America and I thought, 'Oh, my God
is theater ever going to get back?' " she recalled, adding that
she wondered if it was "the time for me to grab the opportunity to try and
direct a film." Walking in London provided the inspiration.
If I were the gorgeous and brilliant Amanda Gorman, I'd be livid, too...they can't even get her name right, nor can they point to whatever in the poem makes them want to censor it...my guess is it's racism, that they've gussied up by trying to make it about book banning. I would also guess those wanting to ban it have never read it.
Amanda
Gorman “Gutted” After Florida School Bans Biden Inauguration Poem
Poet
Amanda Gorman has vowed to defeat book bans in Florida after
her poem “The Hill We Climb” was banned in an educational
institution in Miami-Dade county. Gorman read the poem at Joe Biden’s
presidential inauguration. The poet says she was “gutted” to
learn that a complaint from a single parent led to the poem being
banned. The parent, who mistakenly listed Oprah Winfrey as the author
of the poem, argued that the poem was “not educational and have
indirectly hate messages.” In
a post on Twitter, Gorman responded, “So they ban my book
from young readers, confuse me with Oprah, fail to specify what parts
of my poetry they object to, refuse to read any reviews, and offer no
alternatives … Unnecessary book bans like these are on the rise,
and we must fight back.”
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint is a retelling of the Greek Myth of Jason and his argonauts, with the added bonus of there being a young woman, an acolyte of Artemis, on board the ship that's sailing to find the golden fleece. This book is full of crisp, high quality prose that provides a swift ship for the plot to sail along to the surprise twist of an ending (which I will not spoil for you). Here's the blurb:
From the beloved, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne,
a reimagining of the myth of Atalanta, a fierce huntress raised by
bears and the only woman in the world’s most famous band of heroes, the
Argonauts
Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero
When
Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents
hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a
survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the
goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one
condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.
Although
she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure.
When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the
Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen,
Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece is filled
with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the
men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in
defiance of Artemis's warning, she begins to question the goddess's true
intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world
of men, while staying true to her heart?
Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta
is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint
places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek
mythology, where she belongs.
This slender volume doesn't waste one word or puff one paragraph in telling it's enthralling tale. There's not even 300 pages here, yet the story is still so rich and full bodied that you can't stop turning pages to the very end. I felt bad for Atalanta, because she broke the one rule she'd sworn to the goddess that she wouldn't break, and sadly, it was all for naught. I will let you, future reader, figure out what that means. Meanwhile, I'd give this fascinating look into the workings of a Greek myth an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys mythology.
The Friday Night Club by Sofia Lundberg, Alyson Richman and MJ Rose is an inspiring fiction-based-on-fact look at the famed painter Hilma af Klint. There's a strong thread of historical romantic fiction here, and some beautiful looks behind the creation of famous works of art, and the often debauched artists who created them (who knew that so many famous male painters were complete misogynist asshats?) Here's the blurb:
While
men have long been credited with producing the first abstract
paintings, the true creator was actually a woman – Swedish artist Hilma
af Klint, who was inspired by her mystic visions. Acclaimed authors
Sofia Lundberg, Alyson Richman, and M.J. Rose bring her story to life in
this groundbreaking novel.
Early 1900s: The
world belongs to men, and the art world in Stockholm, Sweden, is no
different, until Hilma af Klint brings together a mysterious group of
female painters and writers—Anna, Cornelia, Sigrid, and Mathilda—to form
their own emotional and artistic support system. The members of the
Friday Night Club find themselves thrust into uncharted territory when
Hilma and her best friend, Anna, begin dabbling in the occult, believing
that through séances they can channel unseen spirits to help them
achieve their potential as artists. “The Five,” as Hilma referred to
them, was a group of immensely talented, fascinating women whose lives
and work were cast into obscurity...until now.
The Present: Over
a century later, an associate curator at the Guggenheim Museum, Eben
Elliot, brings the Hilma af Klint show to New York where he uncovers
questions about the Five and how the modern day art world is funded,
which puts him in a precarious position both emotionally and
professionally, as he witnesses how history can be manipulated.
The Friday Night Club
is an illuminating historical novel that explores destiny, passion, and
the threads that connect five women as they challenge artistic and
societal traditions.
The De Fem (the Five) group originally sounded intriguing, but soon devolved into one artist, Hilma, bullying the other artists into being her minions and painting her work for her, because of spiritualist nonsense prophecy spouted by one of the other group members. Through the undercurrent of hiding their true homosexual feelings under the guise of "freedom" for female artists, the three authors managed to display to readers the constant fear that women lived under at the time of being thought "unnatural" and "hysterical," which allowed male relations/husbands to have them committed to insane asylums or worse. I picked up this book at Island Books, mainly because I saw the name MJ Rose, one of my favorite authors, was attached to it. I've never heard of the other authors, and yet the three of them did a stellar job of bringing these artists and their world to life on the page. I'd give this somewhat uneven, but still fascinating book a B, and recommend it to those art historians who feel (rightly so) that female artists have historically been relegated to the shadows.
A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair was a very cheap find on Amazon that turned out to be a cozy fantasy that was worth thrice the price. This fantasy novel had me hooked from page one. It reads like the best kind of "finding your path YA story" without the whining of a privileged teenager. I found the prose to be spirited and spunky, while the plot whirred along like a clockwork automaton, and a well-oiled one at that. Here's the blurb:
When
the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path
serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most
of all: She leaves.
In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara
finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits
on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under
the surface of this city—hidden magic, and hidden machinations—that
threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way.
Miyara
may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she'll risk
her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.
A Coup of Tea
is the first book of the Tea Princess Chronicles, a cozy fantasy series
full of magic tea, friendship, and lifting people up even when the odds
seem impossible.
Having come from a long line of tea-drinkers (from my great-grandmother on down), I thoroughly enjoyed all the discussions of the variety and flavors of tea, and the magical properties of the leaves and the pots that they steep in. Though Miyara is way too subservient, she really comes into her own as the book progresses, and the ending is truly delightful. I'd give this delicious cozy book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys tea, Japanese tea ceremonies and cozy fantasy.
The Wayward Wizard by Alesha Escobar is the first book in the Magic and Mayhem series, a short urban fantasy novel with a protagonist who is suspiciously similar to Harry Dresden, Chicago's finest wizard, and the creation of Jim Butcher. This ebook not only has many similarities to the Dresden Files, there's more than a bit of 80s buddy rom-coms around the plot. Here's the blurb:
I’m the last person a secret government agency wants to call for help.
I
spend my days selling New Age trinkets to humans and my nights drinking
with a street-hustling alchemist. Not exactly the law and order type.
But when monsters from our childhood nightmares become flesh and blood,
snatching people from the streets, I’m one of the few wizards alive who
can uncover who’s behind it.
After
losing my family in a fire and being whisked away by my caretaker to
train at the Akashic Academy, my life was further turned upside down
when I emerged from my final test to find three dead master wizards.
Despite being cleared of all charges, most in my community believe I
killed them.
They call me the Wayward Wizard.
I
may be a black sheep among magic-users, but I deliver results. Which is
why this secret agency has dragged me out of bed, slapped the bottle of
whiskey out of my hand, and placed me with Alanna Reid. She’s their
best (and most uptight) agent who’s been ordered to keep an eye on me
and make sure I get the job done—or, put a bullet in me.
But
as good as Alanna is, even she may not be prepared for what’s coming.
And if I can’t shut down the mysterious wizard wielding stolen powers,
then I have a demigod looking over my shoulder, salivating at the
thought of bringing on the Apocalypse as punishment.
It’s like the teacher penalizing the entire class for one asshat’s actions, but on a cosmic level.
Since I like living, the choice is clear.
But something tells me that in unraveling the truth, I’ll also have to face my own monsters, which can be just as deadly. Escobar's prose reads a lot like next level fan fiction, but the tightly knit plot soon takes it in hand and zoom, off they go. Because I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files, I enjoyed the heck out of the snarky dialog between the two protagonists, and the ending hit that sweet spot that all readers look for in their fantasy novel series. I'd give this ebook a B, and recommend it to anyone who is a Harry Dresden fan and enjoys witty banter.
Green Gryphon by JS Kennedy is the first Mackenzie Green book in a series of fantasy novels that are full of adventure, mystery and romance. Here's the blurb:
The Dragon Protector asking Mackenzie for a favor—Maybe the sky truly has fallen.
Mackenzie works for Catch and Release, a bounty-hunting guild, and she loves her job. She goes after the usual suspects: Rogue vampires, feral shifters, and crazed mages. Nightmare stuff.
The
last thing she ever imagined was Lucan, an infuriating and high-ranking
dragon shifter, hiring her to find a child kidnapped from his Tribe.
Even
though her magical talents lean more towards bodyguarding and hunting
dangerous beings, condemning a kid to death isn’t who she is.
But
as Mackenzie gets deeper into her hunt, she uncovers deadly secrets
surrounding the child, the kidnapper, and Lucan himself.
One thing’s for sure; when the going gets tough, Mackenzie gets dangerous!
Kennedy's prose is crystal clear and allows her twisty-turning roller coaster plot to do it's job and keep readers guessing until the final page. While I really liked Mackenzie as a character, and I enjoyed her sensible and caring, empathic nature, I couldn't imagine how she could find Lucan, who is condescending, rude, sexist, cruel, violent and mean to be at all attractive. No one who is mean and abusive to me would make me feel any sexual attraction at all, I don't care what they look like with and without clothing. I know there's that whole myth that women love a "bad boy" but smart women don't fall for arrogant and cruel dragons who lie and manipulate others to get what they want. And using size to intimidate others makes you a bully and a bad guy, again, not attractive as mate material. I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy novels full of shape-shifters and magic and adventure.
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