Bomb Threat Scuttles Drag Queen Storytime, Banned Books Week Starts October 1, Nora Roberts on Book Bans, Killers of the Flower Moon Movie, The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens and Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey

Hello Bookish friends! Here's the last blog post and reviews of September, which seemed to rush by on a humid wind.In the last couple of months there's been a lot of media, both social and regular TV/newspapers/websites, about the states that have been banning certain books from school and public libraries, with varying degrees of success. That even some of these bigoted individual adults/parents were able to get classic  and LGBTQ books taken off the shelves is horrible, and brings to mind the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s-40s, and Ray Bradbury's cautionary tale Fahrenheit 451 about regular state-sanctioned book burnings that are forced on the public to keep them ignorant and complacent. It's horrifying that people actually think banning a book will keep children and teenagers from seeking out those books to find out why they're so subversive. Children need to read a wide variety of material in order to grow and learn to think on their journey to adulthood. 

Meanwhile, here's a few tidbits and a couple of reviews...sorry that there aren't more but my reading time is consistently reduced by having to care for my husband, and in the past week, my son, who caught a nasty respiratory virus. 

This is another form of censorship by prejudiced, ignorant people who want children to fear 'drag queens' because they're different. Shame on those people, and double shame on the ones calling in the bomb threat to this bookstore in Utah.

The King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah, Cancels Drag Queen Storytime After Bomb Threat

The King's English Bookshop https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQCKkewI6ag2Jx8lEw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nHWJCkpoMLg-gVdw in Salt Lake City, Utah, canceled a drag queen storytime yesterday morning due to a bomb threat on the bookstore's block. Store co-owner Calvin Crosby reported that all staff members, as well as drag queen Tara Lipsyncki, were safe. The bookstore remained closed for the rest of the day and staff were sent home with pay.

The event, which was scheduled to start at 11 a.m., would have benefited Brain Food Books, a nonprofit owned by the King's English, that distributes books to children and teens without access. After the cancellation, Crosby and Lipsyncki made matching donations to Brain Food Books.

While the storytime itself has not been rescheduled, the King's English is launching Lipsyncki's children's book Letter from the Queen, illustrated by Cherry Mock, on October 11. Crosby said the store will celebrate Lipsyncki's work and offer a storytime then. Crosby noted that there were in fact two separate bomb threats made on Sunday, both of which targeted the bookstore. They were the first in the store's 46-year history.

I loved LeVar Burton as Geordie LaForge, the engineer on Star Trek The Next Generation. The fact that he kept this pro-reading book show going for decades makes me adore him even more. He's the perfect person to be the chair of Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week Starts October First 

The honorary chair of BBW is LeVar Burton, the first actor to hold this position. A lifelong literacy advocate, Burton was the host of the PBS children's series Reading Rainbow; hosts the LeVar Burton Reads podcast; and was executive producer of The Right to Read, a documentary that frames the literary crisis in the U.S. a civil rights issue. He is also the author of Aftermath, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, and A Kids Book About Imagination.

Burton commented: "Books bring us together. They teach us about the world and each other. The ability to read and access books is a fundamental right and a necessity for life-long success. But books are under attack. They're being removed from libraries and schools. Shelves have been emptied because of a small number of people and their misguided efforts toward censorship. Public advocacy campaigns like Banned Books Week are essential to helping people understand the scope of book censorship and what they can do to fight it. I'm honored to lead Banned Books Week 2023." On Wednesday, October 4, Burton will be in a live-streamed conversation with Da'Taeveyon Daniels, the youth honorary chair for Banned Books Week, about censorship and advocacy.

My mother once responded to a woman who noticed (I don't remember whether we were in the library or a bookstore, but it was probably the former) that I was reading an adult book by a female author who was famous at the time, and I was only 12 or 13 years old (this was around 1973). My mother told the busybody that I was already reading at the college level of comprehension, and that as long as I could read and understand what I was reading, that she would continue to allow me to read anything and everything I wanted to read. My mom also said something along the lines of "My daughter's my smart child, so MIND YOUR OWN DAMNED BUSINESS." So I totally get where Nora Roberts is coming from in the third graph here when she notes that her parents never told her that you can't read XYZ book. My parents were also very much in favor of their three children reading and flourishing through knowledge and the worlds found in books.

Author Nora Roberts on book bannings:

When I grew up in suburbs outside of D.C., everyone in my house read. Books were everywhere. I didn't see this as a gift, but just as the normal, ordinary way of things.

In hindsight I understand it was a gift more precious than diamonds. Those trips to the library. My mother's monthly book club and my father's collection of Louis L'Amour and Edgar Rice Burroughs. My brothers' Hardy Boys and comic books. Being handed both Shakespeare and Eloise as a child. My Classic Illustrated subscription and the Nancy Drews my mother faithfully bought for me. All great, wonderful gifts.

Never once in my memory did either of my parents ever say: No, you can't read that... That's not appropriate... That's not for you. I just picked up a book from the shelf, the table, the collection in the attic and read.

My formative years included a great, marvelous scope of stories. Books were treasures to be enjoyed, doors opening to worlds to be explored. Stories, a foundation of the human experience, to be discussed.

I raised my kids exactly the same way, with trips to the library, with books all over the house, with the freedom to choose and explore. I do remember another parent once expressing dismay that my boys read comics. And my thought was: But they're reading! They still are, as grown men, who enjoy the written word and stories, and the freedom to explore those worlds.

Now, as a grandmother, I'm stunned and appalled that some have amassed the power to say no to ALL children, all teenagers when it comes to reading certain books, when it comes to what trained educators can offer in school libraries. There, in my opinion, they have no right.

I think back to my formative years, and a house full of books, and the gift of being encouraged to read, read, read. I wish that for everyone. Freedom, exploration, the opening of doors to other worlds, other viewpoints and experiences.

I would not be the woman, the human, the writer I am without that freedom.

I really want to see this movie, though I've not read the book. It has an all star cast and has earned rave reviews at Cannes.

Movies: Killers of the Flower Moon

Apple has "shared a first look at best actress hopeful Lily Gladstone" in a film clip from Killers of the Flower Moon https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQCMwuoI6ag2KhwnTA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nHXsOipoMLg-gVdw, the historical epic based on David Grann's 2017 book and directed by Martin Scorsese. The Hollywood Reporter noted that In the clip, Gladstone (Certain Women, Reservation Dogs) "goes toe-to-toe with Leonardo DiCaprio, playing recently returned war veteran Ernest Burkhart who is aggressively trying to court Gladstone's Mollie."

The cast also includes Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means, Michael Abbot Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell, and Sturgill Simpson. The Apple Original film, which earned rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival starring has set its wide theatrical release for October 20, and will subsequently stream on Apple TV+.

The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens is a contemporary Irish fiction novel that is somewhat similar to Maeve Binchy's warm tales of odd village folks and their lives and loves. Here's the blurbs: A dilapidated tea house in Belfast, Ireland, is second home to a handful of down-in-the-dumps locals in this flat-footed debut, a bestseller in Owens's native Ireland. Brought together by a common fondness for Muldoon's Tea Rooms—and the establishment's luscious cherry cheesecake—the members of the motley cast have little else in common. Occupying center stage are the shop owners, Daniel and Penny Stanley, whose very different dreams threaten their 17-year marriage. Penny longs for beautiful things and exotic vacations, but Daniel pinches pennies and worries over a long-held secret. Then there are the regulars—starving artist Brenda Brown, who believes her boring name is holding her back in the art world and spends her time penning love letters to Nicolas Cage; wealthy bookshop owner Henry Blackstaff, who escapes his imperious Brontë-loving wife to spy on Rose, the florist across from the tea house; and magazine editor Clare Fitzgerald, who returns from New York periodically to search for her lost childhood love. Owens strives to craft rounded characters with weaknesses and flaws—Daniel is revealed to be a former petty thief; Brenda makes an unexpected decision about her blossoming career—but manages only to create disjointed figures whose motives are hard to credit. Even Belfast is a pallid presence, little more than a stagy backdrop for this unsatisfying medley of tales. Agent, Helenka Fuglewicz for Publisher's Weekly.

Muldoon's Tea Rooms on Mulberry Street in Belfast is the crossroads for a vibrant cast of characters, each of whom is at a crossroads in his or her own life. From the proprietors, Daniel and Penny Stanley, to the winsome florist across the street, the starving artist next door, the philandering businessman across town, his plump little doormat wife, the spinster sisters down the road, and the pretentious society matron, everyone who enters the tearoom for a scone and some Earl Grey leaves a bit more resolved to make changes in his or her life. Must be the ingredients they use, for the tea shop itself hasn't changed a whit since the Stanleys inherited it from Penny's parents. But when a tragic accident nearly destroys the restaurant, the Stanleys undertake the most drastic changes of all. Owens, a best-selling author in her native Ireland, makes it all unfold as smoothly as the shop's cherry cheesecake in her charming debut novel, which will surely appeal to fans of Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde Pilcher. Carol Haggas for the American Library Association.
 
I have to agree with the Publisher's Weekly review here, in that there are too many characters, each with a chapter to their name, to keep track of the story arc, so it leaves the reader confused as to who is who and who is on the outs with their wife or pining after an old acquaintance. For me, it created a tension similar to that of being ill-prepared for a test. These characters, especially the creepy Nicholas Cage stalker (who eventually does get through to him, though she doesn't even have his address, so I found it hard to believe that her letters would go anywhere but the LA dead letter office) seem to think a great deal of themselves, and though it all turns out well in the end, it's not very comforting or warm when each character has to make a huge life change and attitude change to have a decent life. While I understand that the author was going for a specific friendly-village-folk tone, I didn't feel that close to the characters who seemed like stereotypes and rather two-dimensional. I'd give this book a C+, and recommend it to someone who wants a very light read on contemporary Ireland. 

Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey is a romantic historical fantasy that re-writes Carey's first bestselling fantasy novel "Kushiel's Dart" from the point of view of Joscelin V, a Casseline warrior priest and beloved protector of Phedre no Delaunay, courtesan spy from the court of night-blooming flowers. This 22 year old novel was a revelation when I read it, and I was overjoyed to be able to read the story afresh from the POV of the male protagonist, instead of the female protagonist.  Here's the blurb: The lush epic fantasy that inspired a generation with a single precept: “Love As Thou Wilt."

Returning to the realm of Terre d’Ange which captured an entire generation of fantasy readers, New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Carey brings us a hero’s journey for a new era.

In Kushiel’s Dart, a daring young courtesan uncovered a plot to destroy her beloved homeland. But hers is only half the tale. Now see the other half of the heart that lived it.

Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive.

From his earliest training to captivity amongst their enemies, his journey with Phèdre to avert the conquest of Terre D’Ange shatters body and mind… and brings him an impossible love that he will do anything to keep.

Even if it means breaking all vows and losing his soul.

“Decadent and dark, Cassiel’s Servant reveals the secrets of the mysterious Cassiline brotherhood. In this gorgeously realized novel, Carey returns to the world of Terre d’Ange and offers us a new and dazzling perspective on a character we thought we knew.”—Nghi Vo, author of The Chosen and the Beautiful and Siren Queen
As with all of her books, Carey's prose is voluptuous and entrancing, and her plots do not flag, no matter how much political/social detail she stuffs the chapters with, which is quite a feat, as normally such discussions bore me to tears. But there's still a great deal of trials and tribulations, adventure and spycraft, and the rocky romance between a man who has sworn himself to chastity and a woman who has sworn to painful prostitution, due to bearing the mote of red in her eye that marks her as Kushiel's Chosen. 

Though again, I'm not a fan of pain/gore/torture and war, the Kushiel's series was so compelling that I read all of Carey's works, and loved them all. "Love As Thou Wilt" and Phedra's marque (a stylized rose tattooed on her spine that was completed as part of her indenture with the houses of prostitution called the Court of Night Blooming Flowers) have become so popular that there are a number of fans who have had the legend and the marque tattooed on their bodies. I was able to meet Carey at a reading in Seattle in the early 2000's, and there were a number of people, even then, who were able to show Carey their tattoos and explain how much the books had inspired them. I was surprised at the number of young women there who had read the steamy sex scenes and were very open with their questions about Phedra and about the different houses in the court, who specialize in one type of love/sexuality or another. I wonder of those same young gals, now in their 30s, are reading and enjoying this book with it's more military POV, and much fewer sex scenes. I also wonder if many of them still keep the tradition from the novels of celebrating "Longest Night" with a masquerade ball and an alcoholic drink called Joy (Joie).  At any rate, though it was over 500 pages long, I loved reading about Joscelin's youth and upbringing, and his deep love of Phedre. This novel deserves nothing less than an A, and a recommendation to all who have read any of the original Kushiel's series, and wish to deepen their knowledge of Terre 'd Ange. 

Monsieur Spade Comes to AMC, Reese's Book Pick is Mother-Daughter Murder Night, Fall of the House of Usher comes to Netflix, Two Quotes of the Day Relating to Book Bans/Censorship, Lessons in Chemistry Comes to Apple TV+, Water for Elephants Musical on Stage, Theme Song for Scalzi's Starter Villain, Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, and The Lost Book Shop by Evie Woods

Greetings from the cool and sunny Pacific NW to book people and book lovers near and far! It has been another rough few weeks for my husbands health and my own health, and I've been so busy trying to be a caregiver and still clean the house and deal with laundry and dishes and cooking that I've had a lot less time to read books from my Kindle Paperwhite or my TBR stack. I must admit that  I was looking forward to my "retirement/golden years" for peace and quiet and spending time reading and writing and chatting with friends, but I now have to struggle to find the time to shower and take a bit of exercise every evening. I'm often too tired to do anything but sleep. Still, I get as much done as possible, and today I'm going to review the three books I've managed to wedge into my turbulent schedule. I'm also heavy on tidbits, so here we go!

This sounds really exciting, to see a new version of Hammett's  noir gumshoe in action on a streaming platform.

TV: Monsieur Spade

AMC Networks has released a first-look teaser trailer for its upcoming, six-episode crime drama, Monsieur Spade https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQHawb4I6ahuJxojEw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGCMD2poMLg-gVdw, premiering on AMC and AMC+ in early 2024. Starring Clive Owen (Closer, Children of Men, The Knick) as hard-boiled private detective Sam Spade, the limited series is co-created, written and executive produced by Scott Frank who also serves as director, and Tom Fontana.

Monsieur Spade, featuring the legendary character from Dashiell Hammett's novel The Maltese Falcon, is set in 1963, with the detective enjoying a peaceful, quiet retirement in the South of France until the rumored return of his old adversary and brutal murders lure him back to his profession.

I admire Reese Witherspoon for her promotion of books she reads and enjoys, and this one looks to be quite a corker.

Reese's September Book Club Pick: Mother-Daughter Murder Night

The September pick of Reese's Book Club https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQHbkusI6ahuJ0gnHw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGCZOjpoMLg-gVdw is Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (Morrow). Reese Witherspoon wrote, "In Mother-Daughter Murder Night, a cancer diagnosis leaves Lana Rubicon trapped in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack. When Jack happens upon a dead body while kayaking near their bungalow and quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, their family must come together to uncover a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of their community. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn do the one thing they've always resisted: depend on each other."

Yet another show to look forward to, I'm fascinated by Poe's stories, and in this case they're updated to the 21st century. They certainly have an all-star cast, with Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill.

TV: The Fall of the House of Usher

Netflix has released the first trailer for The Fall of the House of Usher https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQHbxesI6ahuJhglGQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGCcSjpoMLg-gVdw, the 8-episode limited series from creator Mike Flanagan based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Deadline reported that the show "follows ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher who have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege, and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth."

The project stars Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T'Nia Miller, Paola Nunez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd, Annabeth Gish, Igby Rigney, and Robert Longstreet. The Fall of the House of Usher premieres October 12.

These two QOTD relate to the horrific rise in book banning and censorship. I find it reprehensible that people who claim to be Christian and patriotic would completely flout both the Constitutional protections against censorship and claim that it's only modern books that have sexual content, gory battles, misogyny and slavery. It's also laughable that these people cherry-pick their way through the "Good Book" without noticing that Jesus never said anything against homosexuality or regular sexuality. They seem to forget that Jesus was described as hanging out with prostitutes, the poor and sick people, and he loathed the wealthy. Anyway, it has been on my mind, as a bibliophile who grew up in libraries that were uncensored, that the next generation of children in certain Southern states will grow up ignorant of diverse lives and loves, and become depressed because they're different and there is a prejudice against that within their family and/or community.

Quotation of the Day #1

'The Right to Free Expression Is a Basic Human Right'

"Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to hold and express opinions, and seek, access, receive, and impart information and ideas without restriction. The First Amendment states that 'Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.' Our right to speak, write, publish, and read are protected by the Constitution. This right is not based on whether or not people in government agree with the ideas being expressed. One of the core beliefs of the NCAC is that free expression, including the freedom to express oneself through arts and through protest, is fundamental to both individuals and society. The right to free expression is a basic human right and essential to human fulfillment and autonomy and it is our right as citizens of the United States."--Emily J.M. Knox, associate professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and chair of the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship, in testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bannings on September 12

Quotation of the Day #2

'Book Bannings: A Clear Danger to Our Members and Their Communities

"The precipitous increase in book bans over the past two years represents a clear danger to the prosperity, safety, and growth of our members and their communities. Over the past year, we've seen a proliferation of bills in state legislatures that would censor books and limit access to lawful materials in schools and libraries, attempting to codify censorship into law in direct violation of the First Amendment. These bans clearly threaten free expression, equal representation in society, and free enterprise...." Government book bans have no place in American society. The First Amendment exists to protect us from state censorship. It was written for instances such as the [recent book banning] laws in Texas or Arkansas, where lawmakers think they can dictate what citizens can and cannot read. A majority of judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans have ruled against book bans. A strong majority of parents oppose book bans--over 70% according to the American Library Association. The Constitution and the will of the majority are clearly on our side."--Allison K. Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, in written testimony for the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on book bannings.

 I'm also really looking forward to this particular series, based on the spectacular book by Bonnie Garmus. I loved Lessons in Chemistry, and I hope that they do the source material justice.

TV:Lessons in Chemistry

Apple TV+ has released a trailer for Lessons in Chemistry https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQHcn-UI6ahuJRlyGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGDp6tpoMLg-gVdw, the eight-episode limited series based on the 2022 novel by author, science editor, and copywriter Bonnie Garmus. Starring and executive produced by Oscar-winner Brie Larson (Captain Marvel, Room), the series will make its debut October 13 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes. New episodes will follow weekly through November 24. The cast also includes Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Kevin Sussman, Patrick Walker, and Thomas Mann. Lessons in Chemistry is produced for Apple TV+ by Apple Studios. 

I also loved this book, and hope the musical is just as delightful.

On Stage: Water for Elephants, the Musical

Water for Elephants https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQHeluoI6ahucBoiTg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGDJeipoMLg-gVdw, the new musical adapted from Sara Gruen's 2006 novel, has set a spring 2024 Broadway opening. Deadline reported that the production, directed by Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo), will begin previews on February 24 at the Imperial Theatre. Opening night is scheduled for March 21. With a book by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher) and a score by the band and performance troupe PigPen Theatre Co., Water for Elephants made its world premiere at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre last summer. 

John Scalzi has long been a favorite of mine, so I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of his new book, Starter Villain, soon. This song (linked in the second graph) is pretty awesome, too.

Dessa's Publication Day Theme Song for John Scalzi's Starter Villain

Tuesday was publication day for John Scalzi's latest novel, Starter Villain (Tor Books). As part of the celebration, Scalzi, who occasionally commissions theme songs for his books from musicians he likes, asked rapper, singer, songwriter, and author Dessa "to do a song for the book, and, oh boy, did she deliver."

Check out the song and lyrics here https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQCIke0I6ahud0h1SQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nHWpClpoMLg-gVdw. "Happiest of Pub Dayz to @scalzi, his new novel STARTER VILLAIN is on shelves in the U.S now," Dessa posted. "I had the chance to read it a bit early (flexxx) and was even invited to pen a little song on the occasion of its release." Scalzi responded "It's so good y'all Dessa is the best!

Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See is a YA romance that's just about as diverse as you can get, with characters all over the LGBTQ spectrum, and POC and disabled people as well. While I fully support all those groups, this book often read like Mary Sue fan fiction or a script written by a newbie writer. Here's the blurb:

A new LGBTQIA+ romance story by the author of You, Me, and Our Heartstrings.

Less than a year away from graduation, seventeen-year-old Joy is too busy overachieving to be worried about relationships. She’s determined to be Caldwell Prep’s first disabled valedictorian. And she only has one person to beat, her academic rival Nathaniel.

But it’s senior year and everyone seems to be obsessed with pairing up. One of her best friends may be developing feelings for her and the other uses Caldwell’s anonymous love-letter writer to snag the girl of her dreams. Joy starts to wonder if she has missed out on a quintessential high school experience. She is asexual, but that’s no reason she can’t experience first love, right?

She writes to Caldwell Cupid to help her sort out these new feelings and, over time, finds herself falling for the mysterious voice behind the letters. But falling in love might mean risking what she wants most, especially when the letter-writer turns out to be the last person she would ever expect.

Joy has Cerebral Palsy, and though when I was in high school I would have been bullied even more if I'd had to deal with being a larger person and also having regular muscle spasms and falling, Joy manages to skirt those issues without much trouble at all. In fact, it would seem that her rival, who is of course smart and handsome, ends up with more harassment than she does, until it all comes crashing down when her secret email "chats" with the schools "Agony Aunt" goes awry. While this book's prose was simplistic, it moved the plot along at a breathtaking pace. All in all, I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to those teenagers who are looking for diverse romances.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is a fantasy novel that combines Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern with GRRM's Game of Thrones and a bit of the Hunger Games and their culture of culling the population via extreme physical challenges to teenagers added in for horror/dystopia fans. This book has gotten so much good ink that finding a copy was like trying to find a Cabbage Patch doll in the 80s...it took some extreme measures. The author and publisher also put out a limited edition of this book that had fancy end papers and gilt edges as well as a dragon in flight near the edge of the book, so you could rifle the pages and watch the dragon cartoon fly. By the time I was able to get a copy, the limited editions had all been snatched up, so I just bought a regular copy, since I was more interested in the story anyway. What I was hoping was for a story that is fresh and new, but what I got was, as I noted above, highly derivative. I started reading Anne McCaffreys Dragonriders of Pern novels when I was about 10 years old in 1970. I read all of the series based in Pern, and went on to read a lot of McCaffrey's other SF/F novels, like Restoree, which I read when I was on the cusp of puberty, which is the perfect time to read a book about changing bodies. Anyway, here's the blurb: Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
 

What I don't understand is how reviewers can say that Fourth Wing is "A Fantasy like you've never read before" when you can read a fantasy that was written 50+ years before about dragons and their riders, and immerse yourself in prose that has Yarro's beat all to hell. Yeah, Yarro's dragons are bigger and meaner, and will eat or burn you to a pile of ash if you're stupid or a jerk, but they're still the wise majestic creatures who allow humans to link with them psychically and ride them into battle...for McCaffrey, the main battle was against the environment of  Pern, which has a napalm-like "thread" that falls from the sky regularly and will eat into any organic matter that it lands on. Yarro's dragons are fighting against invaders from another continent who ride Griffins, which are half bird half lion creatures. McCaffrey's dragons are battling for the survival of the planet, which is a far nobler cause than Yarros dragons, who are basically fighting a war based on a lie. Yarros main idea is that governments are full of power-hungry asshat politicians, while McCaffrey's main idea is that everyone has to work together to survive threadfall. Pern's greatest dragonriders are Lessa and F'lar, a couple (and Lessa is very petite but refuses to let her small stature get in her way) and Yarros main character is Violet Sorrengail, the too-small daughter of merchants, who, like Lessa, refuses to let her size dictate her life's trajectory. The prose in Fourth Wing was crispy and clean and yet managed to be nuanced, which is a difficult task to pull off. The storyline/plot moved at a smart, military pace, but there were moments when I fel that the descriptions were too detailed and got in the way of the story's flow. Nevertheless, I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who liked the Hunger Games or Game of Thrones or even Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, which apparently too many people have forgotten...which is a shame.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is a romantic historical fantasy that had some trouble maintaining it's warm tone, but was still a delightful read. Here's the blurb:

The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.‘A love story, one with books and booklovers at its heart. A warm, wonderful novel that sweeps up the reader into an absorbing, magical tale’

Though I loved Martha's story and the fact that there were so many subplots and people, especially women, trying to fight against deadly misogyny of the past millennia, I found the move from one to another protagonist confusing after awhile, and I had to refer to previous chapters to keep track of who was who and what their story was about. I also disliked that we never found out who the lady Martha cleans for is, or if she was a ghost or just a manifestation of the magical house and bookstore instead. Also, too many of the characters were afraid or abused or cowering from their own relatives or history. Still, the search for the lost Bronte manuscript was interesting, and the harrowing tale of Opaline had a happy ending. The prose was a bit too full of plots and subplots to be anything but heavy and moving at a slower pace, but that didn't affect the story arc that much, although the ending felt rushed and was somewhat confusing. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered if there are TARDIS like bookstores out there that only show up when they're needed. 

You Don't Own Me Comes to TV, Island Books Time Travel Display, Amanda Gorman is Indie Bookstore Ambassador, In Charm's Way by Lana Harper, A Secret Princess by Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl, It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lenker, Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott, and Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin

Welcome book dragons to the first fall post of 2023! I've been away for too long, mainly because real life crisis and caretaking have eaten up all my time, when I wasn't dealing with my own health issues. But I did managed to read more than a few books these past 12 days, so I'll let you get on with it. Enjoy the tidbits and reviews!

This looks fascinating, especially in light of the Barbie movie, which has broken a bunch of box office records this summer.

TV: You Don't Own Me

CBS Studios has acquired for series development You Don't Own Me https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQGNxugI6ahvIR11Gw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGX8egpoMLg-gVdw: How Mattel V. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side, a book by Orly Lobel that follows the parallel journeys of Barbie creator Ruth Handler and Carter Bryant, the creator of Bratz, a "billion-dollar, anti-establishment rival," Deadline reported. In the current blockbuster movie Barbie, Handler is played by Rhea Pearlman.

You Don't Own Me "explores the dark side of the doll wars set against the cultural revolution that Barbie spawned, the subsequent backlash, and the cut-throat, high-stakes world of toys," Deadline wrote. "It follows Handler and Bryant, the brilliant, tortured creators of Barbie and Bratz--two quintessential outsiders who create dolls that literallychange the world but nearly destroy themselves in the process."

I've said it many times here, Island Books was my favorite indie bookstore for nearly 1o years when I worked on Mercer Island. It's still an amazing place for book lovers of all kinds.

Sales Floor Display: Island Books 

"Armchair time travel; no flight delays https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscQGPke0I6ahvJRxzSA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6nGXZClpoMLg-gVdw." That's the chalkboard message on a new sales floor display at Island Books, Mercer Island, Wash., which noted:

"Want to go on a time-bending trip, but don't want to leave the comfort of your favorite chair? Do we have a section for you. Bookseller Cindy put together a great display full of time travel books from all genres."

I love that Amanda Gorman, a truly talented poet, has become a bookstore ambassador! She will do an excellent job, I'm certain.

ABA Names Amanda Gorman Indie Bookstore Ambassador

Poet Amanda Gorman has been named Indie Bookstore Ambassador for the American Booksellers Association for 2023-2024. She will be "a champion for independent bookstores" year round, including for Banned Books Week (October 1-7), Indies First on Small Business Saturday (November 25), and Independent Bookstore Day (April 27, 2024).

Gorman said she was "incredibly honored.... Independent bookstores are vital parts of our communities and bastions of literature. We must work together to support local booksellers everywhere so that they can continue to thrive and champion books on a local level with the personal touch and human connection that we all need, now more than ever."

The youngest presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history--she spoke at President Biden's inauguration in 2021--Gorman is the author of The Hill We Climb, Call Us What We Carry, the children's picture book Change Sings, illustrated by Loren Long, as well as the upcoming picture book Something, Someday, illustrated by Christian Robinson. She also read from Change Sings in the poetry theater interludes during the ABA's 2021 virtual Winter Institute.

The ABA called Gorman "a committed advocate for the environment, racial equality, and gender justice." And it noted that Gorman's words in May after The Hill We Climb was banned at a Florida school--"Together, this is a hill we won't just climb, but a hill we will conquer"--are "inspiring and speak to the importance of finding our voices and ourselves on bookstore shelves, and the importance of working as a community--a goal indie bookstores also share."

In Charm's Way by Lana Harper is a YA-style magical romance novel that turns some fantasy tropes on it's head. I found the LGBTQ characters to be delightful and the tone of the book was much more serious than I expected, when the book is described as a "rom com." Here's the blurb:

A witch struggling to regain what she has lost casts a forbidden spell—only to discover much more than she expected, in this enchanting new rom-com.
Six months after having been hit by a power surge that nearly obliterated her memory, Delilah Harlow is still picking up the pieces. Her once diamond-sharp mind has become shaky and unreliable, and bristly, self-sufficient Delilah is forced to rely on friends, family, and her raven familiar for help. In an effort to reclaim her wits and former independence, she casts a dangerous blood spell meant to harness power with healing capacities.
 
While the spell does restore clarity, it also unexpectedly turns Delilah into an irresistible beacon for the kind of malevolent supernatural creatures that have never before ventured into Thistle Grove. One night—just as things are about to go terribly sideways with a rogue succubus—a mysterious stranger appears in the nick of time to save Delilah’s soul.
 
Gorgeous, sultry, and as dangerous as the knives she carries, Catriona Quinn is a hunter of monsters—and half-human, half-fae herself, she is the kind of sly and morally gray creature Delilah would normally find horrifying. Though Delilah balks at the idea of a partnership, she has no choice but to roll the dice on their collaboration. As the two delve deeper into the power that underlies Thistle Grove, they uncover not only the town’s hidden history but also a risky attraction that could upend Delilah’s entire life.

I appreciated the bouncy, bright as a gem prose, because it really kept the mystery-esque plot moving along at a metered pace. Though the protagonist was grumpy and anti-social, her inner desires are met when she and Cat get together to help her out of the curse that has plagued her for a long time. The HEA ending, along with it's singing sunflowers, is perfect because it doesn't force readers to read about the protagonists intimacies in the bedroom, which is unusual in this day and age. I feel like I've read the same sex scene over and over in every book claiming to even have a hint of romance in it's plot (and if there's a female protagonist, there is a 98 percent chance that she will lose all sense and have at least one wild and detailed sexual encounter before the book comes to a close) and I'm tired of female protagonists who apparently have never experienced oral sex suddenly becoming wildly erotic and nearly insatiable because they finally find a lover who is willing to go down on them. At any rate, I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone 16 and older who enjoys modern day witch stories.

A Secret Princess by Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl is a delicious YA retelling of the Secret Garden and A Little Princess with some added bits of the Wizard of Oz and other classic children's stories thrown in for good measure. Here's the blurb:

A surprising and romantic YA retelling-mashup of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz.

Best friends Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Erroll are best friends. And thank goodness, since their boarding school is basically insufferable. When one of the friends suffers a personal tragedy, a plan—and a secret—change everything for the trio . . . for good.  
 
Filled with charm and romance, and inspired by some of classic literature's most beloved characters, The Secret Princess is the perfect blend of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden—and the perfect companion to Jo & Laurie.

So SPOILER, but Cedric is a disabled Lord and heir to a title/fortune from a family who cares little for him and who live in a huge, crumbling castle/mansion. Both Mary and Sara are orphans who have learned, through horrible experience, that life is bleak and cruel and merciless to those who are poor and without adults to care for them and help them mature appropriately.  The authors are obviously big fans of these classic children's lit characters, so they take off from the solid ground of the originals and add great imaginary evil antagonists and escapades that are thrilling and fascinating enough to keep readers turning pages into the wee hours to see what develops. I'd give the book an A, and recommend it to anyone who loved the Secret Garden and A Little Princess and wonders what happens next.

It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lenker is a 'screwball comedy' style rom-com set in a bygone era of Hollywood glitz and glamor in the 1930s. While I love a good witty rom com, this book had the male and female stars at odds banter down pat, enough so that I had a hard time believing that Joan and Dash weren't actual movie stars who turned their impoverished childhoods in the Midwest into a gleaming new persona and life in California. Here's the blurb:

From Entertainment Weekly writer Maureen Lee Lenker comes a swoony romantic comedy set in the world of 1930s film.

Joan Davis is a movie star, and a damned good actor, too. Unfortunately, Hollywood only seems to care when she stars alongside Dash Howard, Tinseltown's favorite leading man and a perpetual thorn in Joan's side. She's sick of his hotshot attitude, his never-ending attempts to get a rise out of her—especially after the night he sold her out to the press on a studio-arranged date. She'll turn her career around without him. She's engaged to Hollywood's next rising star, after all, and preparing to make the film that could finally get her taken seriously. Then, a bombshell drops: thanks to one of his on-set pranks gone wrong, Dash and Joan are legally married.

Reputation on the line, Joan agrees to star alongside Dash one last time and move production to Reno, where divorce is legal after a six-week residency. But between on-set shenanigans, fishing competitions at Lake Tahoe, and intimate moments leaked to the press, Joan begins to see another side to the man she thought she had all figured out, and it becomes harder and harder to convince the public—and herself—that her marriage to Dash is the joke it started out as.

In true rom-com style, it all comes down to a misunderstanding, with lack of honesty and communication keeping the two stars apart when they're obviously in love, but still nursing past wounds and fearful of their reputations being sullied by a vicious gossip columnist who dines on the misfortunes of others. I enjoyed Joan's feisty wit and refusal to back down, but I also liked Dash's realization that he would have to change and be honest with himself and Joan if they were going to have a shot at love. Lenker's prose is clean and snappy, and her plot is like a bullet train that never makes a stop on the way to the finale. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who likes the 1930s era of Hollywood glamor, and wants a peek behind the curtain.

Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott is a fantasy/mystery with romance woven through the plot. Here's the blurb:

From the USA Today bestselling author of the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries comes the first in a new series featuring an intuitive gemologist and owner of a New Age tea and crystals shop in beautiful coastal California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Flat broke and divorced, intuitive gemologist Shay Myers has changed since leaving her artsy hometown of coastal Bray Harbor sixteen years ago. But when she moves back under strange circumstances, old instincts may be the only key to spilling the tea on a deadly mystery.

Even with her life in ruins in New Mexico, Shay feels uneasy about settling into the small seaside town where she grew up on California’s Monterey Peninsula and taking over an estate bequeathed to her by Bridget Early, a woman she had barely known. Her heightened senses—an empathic gift she’s had since childhood—go into overdrive upon touring Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, Bridget’s eclectic tea and psychic shop brimming with Irish lore and Celtic symbols. They reach a boiling point when Shay looks up to discover a stranger’s body sprawled across the shop’s greenhouse roof .

With her new business a crime scene and questions brewing over Bridget’s so-called accidental death, Shay fears she’s also inherited the attention of a killer. The terrifying realization sets her on an impractical investigation for answers aided by her sister, an elusive pure-white German Shepherd, a strikingly handsome pub owner who speaks in a gentle brogue, and a misunderstood young woman with perceptive talents of her own. As Shay struggles to figure out her true purpose in Bray Harbor and the powerful connection she has with the tea shop, she must trust her judgment above all else to identify a ruthless murderer and save herself from becoming victim number three.

I love reading about mystical tea shops and those who just love a good cuppa, as I come from a long line of tea-drinkers and women who hold sacred the rituals of afternoon tea, though none of my family are English (my ancestors hail from Germany, Switzerland and Ireland). I also love a good "group of misfits" crime-solving team, and this book provides all that and more in spades. Though the mystery is easily solved before the final chapter, I didn't rush through the book to find out whodunnit because I was enjoying the company of the characters so much. I'd give this fun and magical mystery a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes a good "Scooby gang" mystery steeped in tea and its lore.

Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin is what is known as "visionary" mystic fiction or inspirational fiction, which is basically fantasy with a religious bent (Christianity, not other religions). I'm not a fan of inspirational or religious fiction as a rule, because I find it to be too preachy and self righteous, and often not inclusive of POC or any kind of diversity. That said, the convent in which this story takes place is run by a cruel woman and many of the inmates/initiates are clearly not sane, suffering from multiple personality disorder and a host of eating disorders, to name a few. They're also all handicapped in some way, which is unusual for VF. Here's the blurb:

A community of quirky, mismatched, and endearing women struggle to find meaning and purpose on a ramshackle monastery in upstate New York. Having spent their lives in service to a church that seems to no longer serve them, they are confused about their own futures and the future of the entire monastery. Led by Mike, the practical no-nonsense prioress, and Augusta, the grand ancient mystic hermit, they are joined by Gemma, a self-punishing novice, and Arielle, a firebrand jailhouse conversion who was sent there out of rehab by a “sort of angel.” The personalities, commitments, philosophies and beliefs of these and all the characters conflict and converge in ways at once perilous and enlightening. Throughout the tempestuous journey, Augusta's magical sacred teas draw the inevitable closer and closer.

Mystic Tea is a contemporary love story between young and old, franchised and disenfranchised, pedestrian and mystic. Most of all, it is a story of female empowerment as the women find the courage to confront epic challenges, creating a surprising future from the oppressive ashes of the past. It will make you smile as much as it will make you think.

I didn't quite understand how these seemingly bizarre women managed to keep the convent going when most of them weren't actually interested in religion, but were instead looking for a place where they can belong and be themselves. And the mother superior being some kind of saint didn't make a lot of sense, either. The prose, though confusing at times, is simple and manages to hold on to the twists and turns of the runaway plot until the "Happy for now" ending. I would give this weird fever-dream of a novel a B-, mainly because toward the end it finally starts to make sense. I'd recommend it to those who don't like traditional A-Z novels and normal characters.