Rivals Comes to TV, Auntie's Bookstore Deals with Vandalisim, Octavia's Bookshelf Reaches Out with Crowdfunding, Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis, The Honey Witch by Sydney J Shields, The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman, Nursery Crimes by Devon Monk, and City of Secrets by Victoria Thompson

Hello fellow book people, and welcome to July, a hot month for the earth and for books! I'm looking forward to a month of reading in bed with the air conditioner on full blast, keeping me cool. I'm not one for enjoying the burning rays of the sun, but if you're a beach person, now is the time to fill up your beach bag with cool drinks, fun books and tasty snacks, in addition to sunscreen, of course, and make your way to the nearest beach for some R&R this summer. Enjoy!

 

This looks fantastic, especially with this amazing cast...I love David Tennant, so I'll be on the lookout for the Rivals.

 

TV: Rivals

A trailer and first look photos have been released for Rivals https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVCNlr4I6a5lJxl1Eg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mXX5f2poMLg-gVdw, based on Jilly Cooper's 1988 novel and starring David Tennant, Aidan

Turner, Katherine Parkinson, and Danny Dyer, Deadline reported. The cast

also includes Alex Hassell, Catriona Chandler, Oliver Chris, Rufus

Jones, Lisa McGrillis, Luke Pasqualino, Claire Rushbrook, and Victoria

Smurfit. The series is scheduled to debut on Hulu in the U.S. and on

Disney+ in other countries later this year.

Rivals is produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins's (A Very English

Scandal) Happy Prince, with Treadwell-Collins also exec producing and

writing with Laura Wade. Lead director is Elliot Hegarty (Ted Lasso),

who also serves as executive producer on Episodes 1 to 3. Eliza Mellor

(Poldark) is series producer.

I just don't understand people who break windows and graphiti stores and/or rob them, especially bookstores, which are usually on the edge of solvency. Why destroy a business? Especially one that provides great things for the community to enjoy? Ugh. I hope they're able to get repairs done soon.

 

Storefront Window Smashed at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, Wash.

A storefront window at Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, Wash., was smashed overnight last week, which prompted the bookstore to issue an appeal to the community for support, KHQ reported. The bookshop was closed Saturday, but reopened Sunday.

In a Facebook post, Auntie's noted: "Ok, well we had a window broken

this week. So we are asking all you fine @auntiesbooks supporters to come on down this next week and help us out by buying books and goodies. We don't need crowd funding or all that. We just want to see your loving faces in

store helping the cause. These windows are expensive, and it's a tight

year, so we would love your help and support."

My friend Jenny Z, who lives in Pasadena, is going shopping at this bookstore on Monday, and I'm deeply envious of what treasures she will find! She's promised to look for books by POC for me as well! Thanks, Jenny! I hope this bookstore remains open for a long time.

Octavia's Bookshelf, Pasadena, Calif., Turns to Crowdfunding

 

Facing dire financial straits, Octavia's Bookshelf 

in Pasadena, Calif., has turned to crowdfunding to help stay open, Pasadena Now reported. Store owner Nikki High launched a GoFundMe campaign with a

goal of $75,000; in just a few days it has raised $76,000 from more than

1,200 donors. "To be completely transparent, we need an urgent influx of cash to keep us afloat right now," High wrote on the GoFundMe page. "The coffers are

dry and the reserves are nonexistent. We are being faced with tremendous

financial mountains to climb to get [where] we need to be to be

sustainable and I need your help once again."

High opened Octavia's Bookshelf in February 2023 after leaving a job in communications, and to help get the shop up and running, she ran a GoFundMe campaign that raised about $22,000. The bookstore initially met with success, and it wasn't long before it moved from its original home at 1361 North Hill Ave. to a larger location.

However, business has been much slower than expected since the start of

2024, leaving Octavia's Bookshelf in a precarious situation. Pasadena

Now noted that High considered other options before returning to

GoFundMe, such as "launching a Patreon, applying for grants, and

negotiating a move back to a smaller location. These efforts have not

yielded sufficient results."

"Even with what I've shared," High wrote on social media, "I still know

that this is a viable business and this space is crucial to our

community."

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis is a delightful science fiction cozy mystery/romance/coming of age story that wowed me from the first page on. This is one of those books that you will read in one sitting, and long for more. Here's the blurb: This cozy science fiction novel tells a story of misfits, rebels, found family—and a mystery that spans the stars

Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury—and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as: Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver’s conference? And perhaps most pertinently—who is driving the ship?

Each guest has a secret, every member of staff a universe unto themselves. At the center of these interweaving lives and interlocking mysteries stands Carl, one time stowaway, longtime manager, devoted caretaker to the hotel. It’s the love of his life and the only place he’s ever called home. But as forces beyond Carl’s comprehension converge on the Abeona, he has to face one final question: when is it time to let go?

 

First of all, the cover of this novel is gorgeous, and thankfully, the prose inside matches that beauty. I'm a big fan of "found family" books, with oddballs and misfits and homeless, hungry kids finding their way to nurture and help each other create a satisfying life together, and this book provides that trope, but in space on an old luxury liner with all sorts of secrets, from passageways to mysterious secret agents and accounts. The plot keeps you guessing, and though the ending is somewhat enigmatic, it is still satisfying to see our  unofficial captain Carl still keeping an eye on everything while the GAH continues its rounds in space. I'd give this treat of a book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys behind the scenes science fiction tales with engaging characters and big hearts.

 

The Honey Witch by Sydney J Shields is an LGBTQ fantasy romance full of delightful characters and delicious goodies created by Marigold, the main character, who reminds me of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic witches. Here's the blurb: The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.
"The Honey Witch is a sweet feast, brimming with whimsy, magic, and tender longing.” – Rachel Gillig

Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.
 
When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.
  I adored this grumpy/sunshine romance, and the explanation of all the earth magic that Marigold does to help any and all who come to her door in need. The prose is lyrical and light, and the plot buzzes along like a happy honeybee. I read this book in one day, and found myself amazed that it was over so soon...I fell into Marigold's world so readily that I had to wake myself up to reality after being soaked in the novel's world for so long. The HEA is fairly standard, but I was certain that it was going to end in a HFN (Happy For Now), so the ending was something of a surprise. I'd give this novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes LGBTQ witch stories.

 

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman was a fantasy novella/short story that is part of a series that seems to take place in a town similar to the one in Practical Magic. Since I will read anything Hoffman writes, I snapped this one up for my Kindle Paperwhite for a great price. Here's the blurb: 

In this star-crossed short story from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman, timing is everything as two sisters learn to let love follow its own path.

Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.

But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.

When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present, and decide what it means for their future.

Hoffman's prose is, as usual, masterful and glorious, with characters that are so well drawn they seem real. the plot is fizzy and fast, and I was left wanting more of these characters who have to work hard for their HEA. I'd give this short but satisfying tale an A, and recommend it to anyone who liked the bestselling Practical Magic.

 

Nursery Crimes by Devon Monk is a "Las Fables" mystery within a classic fairy tale trope that is both funny and fascinating. Here's the blurb: This is the city of Las Fables. I work here. I’m Detective Peter Peter. I put ‘em in the pumpkin shell.

Las Fables is a land of fairy tales and rhymes. Sure, it used to be made of sugar and spice, but Mother Goose flew the coop and hasn’t been seen in years. Darkness has settled over the town, whiffling and galumphing down the yellow brick lanes.

When the Seven Dwarves are gunned down in the Old Woman’s Shoe Bar, Detective Peter Peter and his partner Jack Horner are on the case. No matter how over the hill and far away the clues take them, they’ll see that justice is served–not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Of course it isn’t just crime on Peter Peter’s mind. There’s a dame named Muffet who’s got him in a tizzy. And it’s gonna take all of his will power to keep his heart from tumbling down after her.

I'm a big fan of Monk's and this mystery is full of humor and twisted fairy tale tropes that will make new fans and keep old fans reading at the beach this summer. As with all of Monk's books, this one has masterful prose and a swift as a bullet plot, so when things get too silly, you know that it will all come right around in the next few paragraphs. I loved fairy tales when I was a kid, so reading about what happens to these characters when they're at home was fun, if sometimes disturbing. I'd give this "hard boiled" detective fairy tale novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes twists on old favorites.

 

City of Secrets by Victoria Thompson is a historical romance/mystery, the second in the Counterfeit Lady series, about a former grifter finding her way in high society New York at the turn of the 20th century. Here's the blurb: 

An exciting new book in the series featuring woman-on-the-run Elizabeth Miles.

Elizabeth Miles knows that honesty is not always the best policy when it comes to finding justice.
 
Elizabeth has discovered that navigating the rules of high society is the biggest con of all. She knows she can play the game, but so far, her only success is Priscilla Knight, a dedicated young suffragist recently widowed for the second time. Her beloved first husband died in a tragic accident and left her with two young daughters—and a sizable fortune. While she was lost in grief, Priscilla’s pastor convinced her she needed a man to look after her and engineered a whirlwind courtship and hasty marriage to fellow parishioner Endicott Knight. Now, about nine months later, Endicott is dead in what appears to be another terrible accident. 
 
Everyone is whispering, but that is the least of Priscilla’s troubles. She had believed Endicott was wealthy, too, but her banker tells her she has no money left and her house has been mortgaged. He also hints at a terrible scandal and refuses to help. 
 
Priscilla stands to lose everything, and Elizabeth is determined not to let that happen. But, as always, Elizabeth walks a fine line between using her unusual talents and revealing her own scandalous past. Elizabeth soon discovers that Endicott’s death was anything but accidental, and revealing the truth could threaten much more than Priscilla’s finances. To save her new friend’s future—and possibly her own—Elizabeth, along with her honest-to-a-fault beau, Gideon, delve into the sinister secrets someone would kill to keep.

This book was rather dense with detail about the era of suffragettes and women trying to make their way in patriarchal society, rife with misogyny. Elizabeth is a dauntless woman who has realized she can use her former life of crime to help expose evil men who are attempting to strip a young widow and mother of two of all of her cash and property. Between Gideon's police connections and Elizabeth's street smarts, the duo manage to not only bring the bad players to justice, they also are able to return Priscilla's money to her so that she will be able to raise her children in comfort and peace. I've read other books by Thompson, so I know that her prose will always be crisp and clean, and her plots swift and unflagging. My only problem with this series is that Elizabeth seems too willing to give up on the love of her life out of some sense of shame about her past. I enjoyed most of the side characters around her, and I'm hoping that she will be able to continue to solve mysteries after she's married to Gideon, who seems to be a bit of a stuffed shirt, who is too rigid in his ideals to commit to a long term relationship with Lizzie. Anyway, I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to those who like historical romantic mysteries.