Hey there, fellow book dragons! It's nearly the end of July already, which makes me happy because that means we're one month closer to my favorite time of year, Autumn, with it's cooler temps and gorgeous foliage (and opportunities to curl up under a blanket with a good novel or three and a cup of tea). I've not had much time to read, due to being a full time caregiver for my husband, who has multiple ailments going on at once, but I did manage to get some ebooks read and I've been enjoying watching Star Trek Strange New Worlds and other shows on streaming services as a way to relieve stress. At any rate, here are some gleaned tidbits from Shelf Awareness and some reviews. Keep cool, friends of the book!
I desperately miss our former wonderful president, Barack Obama, not only because he was a great president, but because he was a reader and a wise man with a sense of humor and a fantastic family. Here's a quote about Librarians that I completely agree with...they're vital to every community in America.
Quotation of the Day
President Obama: 'Thank You, Librarians'
"In a very real sense, you're on the front lines--fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone. Your dedication and professional expertise allow us to freely read and consider information and ideas, and decide for ourselves which ones we agree with.
"That's why I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the work you do every day--work that is helping us understand each other and embrace our shared humanity. "And it's not just about books. You also provide spaces where people can come together, share ideas, participate in community programs, and access essential civic and educational resources. Together, you help people become informed and active citizens, capable of making this country what they want it to be.
"And you do it all in a harsh political climate where, all too often, you're attacked by people who either cannot or will not understand the vital--and uniquely American--role you play in the life of our nation."--Former President Barack Obama in an open letter to librarians published in American Libraries magazine
Though I am NOT a fan of Kubrick films, this is one of two that I found interesting enough to watch more than one time. Probably because Dr Strangelove is hilariously creepy and stars the late, great Peter Sellers. It should be fascinating to see what they do with it on stage.
On Stage: Dr. Strangelove
The first stage adaption of Stanley Kubrick's classic film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, will make its world premiere in London's West End in the fall of 2024, Playbill reported
The 1964 movie was loosely based on the novel Red Alert (1958) by Peter George, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kubrick and Terry Southern. The play will be directed by Sean Foley and BAFTA and Emmy Award winner Armando Iannucci. A venue, casting, and the creative team will be announced at a later date.
"It is both a privilege and a thrill to be asked to adapt and direct one of the most iconic films of all time, and working with Armando Iannucci on the adaptation has been a joy," said Foley. "Stanley Kubrick's 'nightmare comedy' is a perennially relevant satire on world politics and how powerful men can be stupid enough to let us all die if it means they get to brag about it."
Foley told BBC News that the next challenge is finding an actor to play the three main roles https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFeKke8I6ahiIh13Eg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iQWJCnpoMLg-gVdw, famously and brilliantly portrayed by Peter Sellers in the film: "They've got to be a great comic actor, of which we have very many. They've got to be of that shape-shifting kind of quality. They've got to want it. It's going to be a really tough gig. I'm sure some people, when we approach them, are going to go, 'No way, I'm not going to be compared with Peter Sellers in those roles.' But there will be someone who has the appetite and skill and talent and sees the opportunity to do it in their own way."
If you're a fan of any kind of entertainment media in America, you've likely heard of the Writer's Strike that has Hollywood studios at a standstill. Coming from a union family, I am very much on the side of the writers who make the shows we all love, and who deserve fair compensation and a guarantee that their work won't be exploited by AI without consent or compensation.
8,000 Writers Sign Authors Guild's Open Letter to AI Industry CEOs
The Authors Guild has submitted an open letter https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFeLlboI6ahiIk91Gw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iQWZTypoMLg-gVdw to the CEOs of prominent AI companies, including OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, Stability AI, IBM, and Microsoft, calling their attention "to the inherent injustice in exploiting our works as part of your AI systems without our consent, credit, or compensation."
More than 8,000 writers and their supporters signed the letter, including Dan Brown, James Patterson, Jennifer Egan, David Baldacci, Michael Chabon, Nora Roberts, Jesmyn Ward, Jodi Picoult, Ron Chernow, Michael Pollan, Suzanne Collins, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, Roxane Gay, Celeste Ng, Louise Erdrich, Viet Nguyen, George Saunders, Min Jin Lee, Andrew Solomon, Rebecca Makkai, and Tobias Wolff.
The letter requests that the AI leaders "mitigate the damage to our profession by taking the following steps:
1) Obtain permission for use of our copyrighted material in your generative AI programs.
2) Compensate writers fairly for the past and ongoing use of our works in your generative AI programs.
3) Compensate writers fairly for the use of our works in AI output, whether or not the outputs are infringing under current law."
Maya Shanbhag Lang, president of the Authors Guild, said, "The output of AI will always be derivative in nature. AI regurgitates what it takes in, which is the work of human writers. It's only fair that authors be compensated for having 'fed' AI and continuing to inform its evolution. Our work cannot be used without consent, credit, and compensation. All three are a must."
Nora Roberts commented: "If creators aren't compensated fairly, they can't afford to create. If writers aren't paid to write, they can't afford to write. Human beings create and write stories human beings read. We're not robots to be programmed, and AI can't create human stories without taking from human stories already written."
I'm a fan of Kenneth B, and have been since reading his autobio, and this sounds like another winning film that he's directing and acting in. He was born 2 days and 2 hours before I was, so I like to think we'd be friends if we ever met.
Movies: A Haunting in Venice
20th Century Studios has released a new trailer for A Haunting in Venice https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFeLn78I6ahiIR1yGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iQWZ73poMLg-gVdw, its third Agatha Christie adaptation from actor-filmmaker Kenneth Branagh after Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express. Deadline reported that the new project is based on the novel Hallowe'en Party, featuring Inspector Hercule Poirot (Branagh). It hits theaters September 15.
The cast also features Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, and Kelly Reilly, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, and Riccardo Scamarcio. Branagh directed A Haunting in Venice from a script by Michael Green.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata is a delightful romantic comedy novel that takes the dumb celebrity in crisis trope (who always falls in love with the sensible female protagonist, mainly because she makes his life better by managing it and knowing how to be a paid wife, basically) and plays with it enough to make the pages fly by. Zapata's prose is spicy without being deviant or weird, and her plot flies like a fastball at Fenway. Here's the blurb:
Vanessa Mazur refuses to feel bad for quitting—she knows she’s doing the right thing. The thankless job of personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans for her life, and none of them include washing extra-large underwear one more day for a man who could never find it in him to tell her good morning, congratulate her on a job well done, or wish her a happy birthday—even when she was spending it working for him.
The legendary “Wall of Winnipeg” may be adored by thousands, but after two years Van has had enough.
But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door begging her to come back, she’s beyond shocked. Mr. Walled-Off Emotions is actually letting his guard down for once. And she’s even more dumbstruck when he explains that her job description is about to become even more outrageous: something that takes the “personal” in personal assistant to a whole new level.
What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?
I found it hard to not snort at how easy Aiden seems to seduce Van into working with him again, and I also found it somewhat unbelievable that she would fall for him because he's big and muscled up, which somehow makes him irresistible. Personally, I know that there are women who go gaga for big biceps and soforth, but when the guy sporting them is such an obvious jerk, why would you allow the sight of a handsome face and big brawn to completely rule out your common sense? That said, I can understand why Van agrees to the new contract with Aiden, because having a ton of student loans hanging over your head, and also desperately wanting a home of your own so you can set down roots can really make someone desperate to fulfill those dreams before they hit 50. The amount of debt students wanting a degree must go into these days is ridiculous and depressing. College should be free for everyone. Anyway, I enjoyed the banter between the main characters and was delighted by the HEA ending. All in all, I'd give this fun rom-com a B+, and recommend it to all those who have fantasies about romances with sports stars.
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson is the second book in the Wayward Stars series...I'm reading the final book of the triology now. This particular Sanderson book series appealed to me because it's SF and YA, and it's about a young woman who longs to be a pilot. Having been a lifelong Star Trek fan and fan of nearly every type of science fiction that involves space flight and exploration, I knew that this series was going to intrigue me, and it did, right from the get-go. Sanderson is a master storyteller, along the lines of Ray Bradbury, and his prose is lush and verdant without being too overly informational and picky. Here's the blurb:
From the New York Times
bestselling author of the Reckoners series, the Mistborn trilogy, and
the Stormlight Archive comes the second book in an epic series about a
girl with a secret in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.
All
her life, Spensa's dreamed of becoming a pilot and proving herself a
hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned
there were crushing. The rumors of her father's cowardice are true--he
deserted his Flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he
turned against his team and attacked them.
Spensa is sure that
there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her
father that day could happen to her. When she made it outside the
protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and what they
revealed to her was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about
her world is a lie.
Humankind has always celebrated heros, but
who defines what a hero is? Could humanity be the evil the galaxy needs
to be protected from? Spensa is determined to find out, but each answer
she discovers reveals a dozen new questions: about the war, about her
enemies, and even, perhaps, about Spensa herself.
But Spensa
also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to
the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
After I read Skyward, which had a well thought out ending, I told myself I wouldn't read another of Sanderson's books in the series, because, really, what else was there to say? Yet I found myself gravitating toward this second book, because I could tell that Spensa was going to need more answers about the hateful space "eyes" that want to wipe out everything and everyone but themselves, and she wants to exonerate her father, which she knows is a long shot, but still, it's worth a try for our intrepid heroine. Of course when I got to the end of this swiftly plotted feast of a book, I had to order the last book, just to see how Spensa fairs under all this pressure to save her planet and her people. I'm surprised that Sanderson hooked me into this deceptively addictive series. I'd give the second book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who read the first tome.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is a sea fantasy adventure novel that's part of a "secret" series that Sanderson wrote for his wife and never intended on publishing and presenting to the world at large. I'm glad that he did, though, because this fantasy adventure reads like something out of Tolkien, if he were a Navy captain with a fantastic imagination and a love of underdog stories. Here's the blurb:
The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
Note from Brandon:
I started writing this in secret, as a novel just for my wife. She urged me to share it with the world—and alongside three other secret novels, with the support of readers worldwide it grew into the biggest Kickstarter campaign of all time. I’m excited to present this first book to you at last: a different type of Brandon Sanderson story, one I wrote when there were no time constraints, no expectations, and no limits on my imagination. Come be part of the magic.
This story didn't have the lightheartedness or romance of Princess Bride, but it did have some amazing and unique world building (seas made of reactive colored sand/seeds? Dragons and wily sorceresses keeping company? Sign me up!) that made it a real page-turner, though, as with most of Sanderson's books I've read, it was way too long and could have used some editorial trimming. I'd give the book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who loves a good fantastic tale of a young woman coming into her own on the high seas.
Crave by Tracy Wolff is an urban fantasy novel that reads like Twilight fan fiction, right down to the soppy and stupid female protagonist who smells of strawberry shampoo. Blech. Twilight was one of the most poorly written novels I've ever read, replete with a sagging plot and embarrassingly awful characters. At least Crave's writing was of a slightly higher caliber than Meyers, though her plot was rather thin most of the way through the book. Here's the blurb:
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy.
Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I
am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of
these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the
one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s
Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a
hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me,
something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all. Because
Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a
sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here
intentionally—as the bait.
This is another book where the female protagonist loses her mind and her agency at the first sight of a handsome, dangerous boy, in this case, an immortal vampire. Once again I'm struck with the pedophilic age difference of the two main characters, and how willing the old vampire is to give into his lust for a sweet and stupid young teenage girl, whom of course he uses not just for her blood but also for sex. WHY does this keep happening in vampire or other "monster" books in the past 20 or so years? Feminists of the past 100+ years are rolling in their graves at the thought of the proliferation of these sexist tropes. I could also see the end coming a mile away, so there wasn't even a nice surprise element of the HEA to look forward to. All in all, this book is barely worthy of a C, so I will give it a D+ and say that I can't really think of anyone to recommend this Twilight fan fiction to, because there are so many better books to read out there. Don't waste your time or money on this cheap immitation of a Ray Bradbury short story from the 1950s.
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