Obit for Charles R Cross, The Grays Comes to Netflix, Rivals on TV, New Owners for Seattle's Madison Books, Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf, The Coven by Harper L Woods, Bride by Ali Hazelwood, Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley, and Mr Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer

Hello all! It's finally almost September, the start of my favorite season of the year, autumn/fall. thank heaven the summer is over, and we're moving toward the holiday and birthday season in our household. I've been reading a ton lately, so after the news, I'll get right to the reviews!

 

I remember reading Charles Cross's works in the Seattle Times and Rolling Stone and in his wonderfully evocative books about musicians and their bands. He was an amazing prose stylist who passed from this earth too soon. Go with God on your final journey, CRC.

 

Obituary Note: Charles R. Cross

Charles R. Cross https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPelbkI6a5hK093HA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUDJTxpoMLg-gVdw,

a Seattle music writer who edited "a local rock bible, during the city's

grunge-era flowering in the 1990s, and who wrote acclaimed biographies

of two of the city's most venerated musical figures, Jimi Hendrix and

Kurt Cobain," died August 9, the New York Times reported. He was 67.

Cross was the editor of The Rocket magazine from 1986 through 2000, "a

period when Seattle bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam

redefined rock. It was considered a must-read for musicians looking to

join the wave."

Chris Walla, a former member of the band Death Cab for Cutie, posted on social media: "it's impossible to imagine the music or community of seattle in the 80s and 90s without charles cross. he influenced or enabled

practically every story, relationship, and musicians wanted ad in the

city for decades. i'm eternally grateful. may his name be a blessing."

Cross also turned his self-produced fanzine into Backstreets Magazine, a

trove of Bruce Springsteen arcana. At a recent concert in Pittsburgh,

Springsteen paid tribute to Cross, telling the audience that his "help

in communicating between our band and our fans will be sorely missed"

before launching into his song "Backstreets."

The first of his nine books, Backstreets: Springsteen, the Man and His

Music (1989), was followed two years later by Led Zeppelin: Heaven and

Hell, an illustrated history that he wrote with Erik Flannigan, with

photographs by Neal Preston.

His 2001 Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven, was based on more than

400 interviews, as well as Cobain's private journals and other materials

provided by his widow, Courtney Love. The book received ASCAP's Timothy White Award for outstanding musical biography in 2002.

Room Full of Mirrors (2005), Cross's biography of Hendrix, was called

one of the best music books ever written by Vibe magazine. He also

collaborated with Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart, who grew up in

the Seattle area, on Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and

Rock & Roll (2012).

"His passion and purpose was to make it his life's work to celebrate and

chronicle the beautiful global renaissance that started with our local

Seattle music scene," Nancy Wilson posted on social media.

"Charley was the coolest rock literati bookworm to ever be lucky enough

to know. And all us cool rock people got to feel even cooler to know him

and call him a friend.... Charley was our trusty biographer and

implicitly trusted friend.... Rest in wit and wisdom dear fine feathered

friend."

This looks wonderful, and I've always been a fan of the works of Oscar Wilde. I hope that they do his most famous book justice.

The Grays (Based on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde)Comes to Netflix Netflix is developing The Grays https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPelbkI6a5hK09yGQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUDJTxpoMLg-gVdw, a TV series based on Oscar Wilde's classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Deadline reported that the project is from Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

Written by Katie Rose Rogers, The Grays is "a contemporary take on the

Oscar Wilde classic about our fascination with eternal youth set against

the backdrop of the modern beauty industry. In a twist on the gothic

novel, the series revolves around siblings Basil and Doran Gray,"

Deadline wrote.

I will watch anything with David Tennant in it, and Aidan Turner, both delicious actors who are also major hotties!

TV: Rivals

Disney+ has set a premiere date for Rivals https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVKIxOoI6a5hdhBxSQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mVWsWipoMLg-gVdw, the eight-part series adapted from Jilly Cooper's bestselling 1988 novel. Deadline reported that the show will drop October 18 in the U.K. and stream on Hulu in the U.S.

Starring David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, and Danny

Dyer, Rivals chronicles the cutthroat world of independent television in

1986 and the long-standing rivalry of ex-Olympian, MP, and notorious

womanizer Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and his neighbor Tony

Baddingham (Tennant), controller of Corinium Television, Deadline noted.

This is wonderful news! Madison Books new owners sound like they've got a handle on the book scene in Seattle, one of America's most Literate Cities!

 

New Owners for Seattle's Madison Books

Madison Books, Seattle, Wash., will reopen

under new ownership on September 1. The Seattle Times

reported that Christina Leber and Sarah Trainer purchased the

400-square-foot shop, which was launched in 2020, from Tom Nissley, who

wants to focus his time on his other store, Phinney Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVKJnuwI6a5hdRElSA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mVW5-kpoMLg-gVdw.

"I would like to get some writing done again, and that just hasn't even

been close to possible the last five years. I think it's only possible

if I'm a one-bookstore guy," Nissley said.

"We're sisters who grew up in Seattle, on Capitol Hill. And we were like

homing pigeons," Leber said. "We were gone for many years--for school

and grad school and work--and then we had kids and came back to Capitol

Hill." Neither of them had previous bookselling experience--Trainer is

an anthropologist and Leber worked as a social worker--but Trainer

gradually developed a desire to work with books.

Last fall, Trainer came across Madison Books. "I fell into a

conversation with James, as one does, and I said, 'This is a strange

question, but by any chance, are you hiring?' 'Funny you should ask,' he

said. 'How would you like to be the manager?' "

Crossley connected Trainer with Nissley, who hired her as a manager, and

she soon convinced Leber to join the staff. Their first month without

Crossley at Madison Books was December 2023.

"We just kind of threw them in the deep end," Nissley recalled, "and

it's a good sign that you can come in the craziest time of year in a

time of transition and have your first reaction be, 'Oh, I really like

this.' "I feel like we have been in training for this job our whole lives in

that we both have been reading crazily for decades and decades," Leber

noted. The sisters were soon in discussion about buying Madison Books

from Nissley.

Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf is a YA romance/science fiction thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat for all of its 420 pages. First of all, it's beautifully produced, with gold edges that are illustrated and a lustrous gold and blue cover that will attract the eye of collectors and readers alike. Best quote: "The wolf only knows how badly the deer suffers when the tiger comes." Here's the blurb: 

Bravery isn't what you do. It's what you endure.

The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back. He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother—on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish.

Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them.
Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker—one of the few enormous machines left over from the War—and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system.

Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary—even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for.

Only I’m not alone. Not anymore.

Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something…more. And it won’t be stopped. 

 

I used to read a lot of "Space Opera" genre, and this book actually lives up to the hype of SO, with it's melodramatic flourishing prose and its vast plot that moves at warp speed. That said, I loved tough Synali, with her determination and her death wish, as she made it through layers of horrible politics and even worse manipulative people/nobles, using her pain to their own ends. Like many female protagonists in this day and age, Synali comes from a poor background where she barely survived and then is thrust into a world where she is at least fed and rested, but still abused by those around her for their own ends. I don't understand why the heroines of these book series always have to be so abused and starving, scarred from rape and repeated attempts on their lives. Somehow, emaciated young women are like catnip to the handsome rich male protagonists, who always want the one young woman who doesn't want them. And in this case Synali can't stop her feelings of love and lust developing for the rich asshat rider who wants to defeat her in battle and doesn't really seem to have her best interests at heart for most of the book. Anyway, though it was too much like Divergent or Hunger Games mixed with Game of Thrones for my taste, I'd give this gorgeous book an A-, and recommend it to those who like the beaten but still defiant heroine trope in today's YA Space Opera.

 

The Coven by Harper L Woods  is a 'dark' or 'grimdark' romantasy novel, which is just another marketing ploy to sell horror novels to romance and YA readers. I dislike the horror genre, so I was not thrilled with all the blood and gore, nor was I happy about all the misogyny inherent in the text, and the fact that the female protagonist was compelled to have sex without her consent, in other words, raped, more than once through the novel. It was nauseating for those of us who are rape survivors to have to read this kind of painful drek. Here's the blurb: THE COVEN, a sexy, deliciously imaginative fantasy romance where The Magicians meets Ninth House with vampires.

Revenge.
Raised to be my father’s weapon against the Coven that took away his sister and his birthright, I would do anything to protect my younger brother from suffering the same fate. My duty forces me to the secret town of Crystal Hollow and the prestigious Hollow’s Grove University—where the best and brightest of my kind learn to practice their magic free from human judgment.

There are no whispered words here. No condemnation for the blood that flows through my veins. The only animosity I face comes from the beautiful and infuriating Headmaster, Alaric Grayson Thorne, a man who despises me just as much as I loathe him and everything he stands for.

But that doesn’t mean secrets don’t threaten to tear the school in two. No one talks about the bloody massacre that forced it to close decades prior, only the opportunity it can afford to those fortunate enough to attend.

Because for the first time in fifty years, the Coven will open its wards to the  Thirteen promising students destined to change the world.

If the ghosts of Hollow’s Grove’s victims don’t kill them first. 

This book was another beautifully produced work, with red and black edges and end papers and an embossed cover that is striking. Though the book clocks in at under 300 pages (285), it still became nauseating and horrifying long before the middle of the novel, making it a tedious and difficult read for those like me who find blood and gore and abuse something to be avoided, rather than something to be fascinated by. I'd give this book a C+, and only recommend it to fans of Stephen King and the horror genre in general.

 

Bride by Ali Hazelwood is another "dark" romantasy, that has a violent and grim view of both werewolves and vampyres. The only "good" or honorable people in this novel are the rare ones whom the female vampyre protagonist cares about, and even they seem to have some ulterior motives for caring for the protagonist, the aptly named "Misery" Lark. A majority of the characters are asshats who you will want to see meet an untimely end. The sexuality in this book is also, WARNING, violent, painful and downright bizarre. So gird your loins, romance fans, because if you don't have a strong stomach you might not make it through this book. Here's the blurb: A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf. 

 

Lowe, the were male protagonist is overly possessive and his whole glandular issue is just too gross. Misery's love of her friend Serena seems also too possessive and strange, and I felt that Lowe and Misery's adoption of the hybrid child Ana was weird and somewhat inappropriate, considering how few parenting skills Misery can lay claim to. I'd give this bizarre take on vampyre/werewolf romance a B-, and only recommend it to those who find the grotesque exciting.

 

Iona Iverson's Rules For Commuting by Clare Pooley is a cozy romance/found family novel that I dearly loved. I mean, what's not to love about the tropes of found family, quirky characters, an aged protagonist and LGBTQ characters up front of the narrative?! The prose was bouncy and fun, and the plot zoomed along the 330 pages like a late train trying to make up time for commuters. Here's the blurb: 

Nobody ever talks to strangers on the train. It’s a rule. But what would happen if they did?

From the author of The Authenticity Project comes an escapist read that will transport you, cheer you, and make you smile—and make you, too, wish you had Iona’s gift for bringing out the best in everyone.

 
Every day Iona, a larger-than-life magazine advice columnist, travels the ten stops from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station by train, accompanied by her dog, Lulu.  Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname: Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm and Terribly-Lonely-Teenager. Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do.
     Then one morning, the man she calls Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader chokes on a grape right in front of her. He’d have died were it not for the timely intervention of Sanjay, a nurse, who gives him the Heimlich maneuver.
     This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people with almost nothing in common except their commute discover that a chance encounter can blossom into much more. It turns out that talking to strangers can teach you about the world around you--and even more about yourself.

I fell in love with the smart, sassy and fabulously fashionable Iona, and her open-hearted advice for all the insecure and introverted people she encounters on the train each day. The way they all end up changing their lives, caring for each other and rescuing Iona is utterly delightful...it warmed the cockles of my heart and made me smile. It should be noted that these characters are British, so you need to take into account their cultural stoic state and need for quiet and personal space. Their reticence is inbred, as it were. That said, all it take is one good lesbian extrovert with a load of common sense to push them in the right direction and change everyone's life for the better. I'd give this big hug of a book an A, and recommend it to anyone who liked House on the Cerulean Sea.

Mr Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer was a Jewish romance novel that I was expecting to be filled with tropes, but which was surprising in it's lack of cliches and boring, stereotypical characters. Here's the blurb: From the author of The Matzah Ball comes a pitch-perfect romcom following a third-generation Jewish matchmaker who unwittingly finds her own search for love thrust into the spotlight...

The perfect Jewish husband should be:

• A doctor or lawyer (preferably a doctor)
• Baggage-free (no previous marriages, no children)
• And of course—he must be Jewish

As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV.

As a non-Jewish single dad, Chris doesn’t check any of Dara’s boxes. But her hunt for Mr. Perfect is the ratings boost his show desperately needs. If only Chris could ignore his own pesky attraction to Dara—a task much easier said than done when Dara starts questioning if “perfect on paper” can compete with how hard she’s falling for Chris.

The prose was a bit too detailed about Dara's general anxiety disorder (she seemed somewhat autistic to me) because all the description of how her GAD manifests became tedious due to redundancy. The plot moved along at a sedate pace, until the final chapters, where it catches the characters up in a whirlwind of decision making that's life-altering. I liked the "side" characters, like Dara's Bubbe and her friends, but felt that Dara, as an adult, acted too childish by clinging to her grandmother with such ferocity, when it was obvious Bubbe was not long for this world due to cancer and her age (90). I also found it hard to believe that a news anchor would be so stupid about his own wants/needs/love interest that he'd let Dara go, though he knows he's in love with her. Anyway, alls well that ends well, and I'd give this weird yet fascinating romance a B, and recommend it to anyone who is Jewish and understands how interfaith marriage is becoming more and more common and popular. The heart wants what it wants, after all.

 

Outrageous Comes to TV, THS Closes Library for Book Banning, Engagement at Powell's Books, Chris Epting and Mentor John Cheever, Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz, Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan, The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin and How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

We're heading into the home stretch, bibliophiles! The agony of August is almost over, and then it's smooth sailing into the glories of September and October, and beautiful fall leaves and cooler temps! Hurrah! This holiday season and election day are also right around the corner, and I'm looking forward to my 64th birthday and my son's 24th as well. The respiratory virus/infection that I've been struggling to overcome lessens its grip on my lungs slowly, but I'm hoping that by next week it will be gone. However, it has afforded me the opportunity to read a lot of good and not-so-good stuff, which I'll be reviewing herein. First, here's some tidbits to enjoy.

 

I've been a fan of the Mitford sisters since my late teens/early 20s, when I read several books about them and was fascinated by their lives, which seemed so smart and glamorous. This series is bound to be exciting, so I'm looking forward to watching it next year.

 

TV: Outrageous

BritBox International and UKTV have released a first look at the

upcoming series Outrageous https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPbl74I6a5hIxt_Ew~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUCZb2poMLg-gVdw, based on The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family. Deadline reported that "the story of six aristocratic sisters who refused to play by the rules, their often-scandalous lives making headlines around the world."

The project stars Bessie Carter (Bridgerton), Shannon Watson, Zoe

Brough, Orla Hill and Isobel Jesper Jones. Created and written by Sarah

Williams, the show is produced by Firebird Pictures and will air next

year.

This is DISGUSTING! Coplying with these FASCISTS who are banning books is just beyond horrible. So students at Green Hill can't read a breadth of materials and make up their own minds about POC and LGBTQ people because of some closed minded, racist and sexist people, probably on the school board, who, in addition to law makers have decided that they are the arbiters of what is "appropriate" for students to read and learn. Idiots. I'm glad that I grew up in a state where no books were banned for anyone, and my parents encouraged me to read anything and everything that caught my fancy or my curiosity. Tennessee should be hanging their collective heads in shame!

Tennessee High School Closes Library to Comply with Book Banning Law

Green Hill High School in Wilson County, Tennessee, has closed its library in preparation for the new school year so staff can check the entire collection to make sure they are in compliance with a new law that went into effect July 1. (These laws are onerous on purpose, folks.) H.B. 843 “requires schools to maintain and post lists of the materials in their libraries and to evaluate challenged materials to determine whether or not they are ‘age-appropriate.'” The law focuses specifically on materials that contain “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse,” all of which educators and librarians must evaluate at their own discretion. Along with the books by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ people that book banning bills specifically target, H.B. 843 captures many classics and even the Bible. Throwing out the baby with the bath water is a feature here, not a bug. In fact, it’s the entire point. May their efforts fail, and may we send them a loud-and-clear message at the ballot box this November.

I love this, and I wholeheartedly wish that my husband had been romantic enough to propose to me in a bookstore or a library. Congratulations to the happy couple!

 

Bookshop Engagement: Powell's Books

"Our heartfelt congrats and best wishes to Adaline and Alicia on your

engagement!"

Powell's Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPcxroI6a5hJBl1Eg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUDsfypoMLg-gVdw, Portland, Ore., posted on

Instagram. "We're so happy and proud you chose to get engaged at

Powell's! We've always maintained that this is one of the few places

where you can ask the age old question 'Where can I find Romance?' and

get a clear and actionable answer. You've totally proved our point and

leveled up.... Now, for the rest of us, it's Bookstore Romance Weekend

this weekend at Powell's. Come down and find your romance!"

This is just so darned cool. I used to write letters to authors and companies and all kinds of celebrities, and it was such a thrill to get a response. No writers ever sent me such a positive response and developed a mentorship relationship with me, as Cheever did with Christ Epting, though. 

Chris Epting and his relationship with famed writer John Cheever

My parents were fine with the fact that I wanted to be a writer by the time I was nine years old. A couple of years later, after watching me write regularly outside of school, my father suggested I take it a step

further by dropping a note to a man who lived down the road--a writer

named John Cheever--to see if he could offer me any advice. I had never

heard of John Cheever, but I did know that my father had a couple of his

books stacked on a shelf next to other famous authors, like Hemingway

and Steinbeck. So I did.

Then, just a few days later, I got a neatly typed note that has been

committed to memory since I opened the envelope:

Dear Chris Epting:

It is nice to know that there is another writer living in the

neighborhood. I will call you one day soon and then maybe we can take a

walk and talk about writing.

John Cheever

I could tell from my parents' reaction that this was a big deal.

(There's something about seeing adults get genuinely excited, acting

almost like kids, that impresses a young person. It feels incongruous,

but in a good way.)

Several days after receiving his reply, the phone in our house rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Chris..." a rich, weathered, weary (vaguely British?) New

England-accented voice began. "Hello, Chris. This is John Cheever."

With that, I was introduced to one of the greatest fiction writers in

American literary history.

It starts, as I recall, with me eagerly listening one day as he shared

some of his experiences teaching at the prestigious Iowa Writers'

Workshop. Mr. Cheever spoke about how he would occasionally, while

teaching at colleges, take aside young writers and ask them a simple but

profound question: "Why are you here?" He explained that he was

searching for a particular answer, one that set apart the truly

dedicated and passionate writers from the rest. He told me that many

aspiring writers would talk about their love for writing, their

aspirations to become authors like him, and their excitement for the

craft. However, he confessed that he wasn't interested in those answers.

Instead, he listened intently for a different response. He wanted to

hear some variation of, "I'm here because I have to write."

Mr. Cheever emphasized the significance of this distinction. He

explained that when writing becomes a necessity--when it is as essential

to one's being as eating, sleeping, or breathing--it sets writers apart.

It becomes an integral part of their psyche, an ingrained compulsion

that they cannot ignore or resist.

When we sat down together, Mr. Cheever would take out my stories, his

red felt-tip marker poised to make notes in the margins. His feedback

was invaluable, and I hung on to his every word. He would offer

suggestions and insights that transformed my writing, urging me to dig

deeper into my characters or to create more evocative descriptions.

"Make her more mysterious," he would say, or "Describe the flowers in

the garden, and as they are dying, let that serve as a metaphor for the

relationship." His guidance breathed life into my stories, adding layers

of complexity and nuance that I had never considered.

Occasionally, our conversations would veer off into other topics, like

baseball or current events. These casual exchanges provided a glimpse

into the man behind the writer--a person with a wide range of interests

and a genuine curiosity about the world. It was during these moments

that I realized the importance of being well-rounded and knowledgeable

in order to enrich one's writing.

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer is the sequel to the first book in this rollicking gothic romantic comedy series, and to say that I loved it just as much as the first book is to do it an injustice. HNM's prose is witty and wonderful, so clear that you can see the characters come to life in your imagination, as the swift plot streams along like a boat in calm waters. Here's the blurb: NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism of late. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. —Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs—Kingsley’s included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?
The marvelous characters and their unexpected backgrounds and the way that they become a kind of family of outsiders, makes this book a cozy and delightfully fun read. I'm especially fond of Kingsley the frog (who isn't really a frog, but someone who has been enchanted to become an amphibian) and his hilarious signs (ie "Oh no!" and "Ass!" to his boss), as well as Evie and the eponymous Villain, who is struggling to deny his feelings for his apprentice, as well as Becky from HR, who is much more than she seems. This was one of those engrossing novels that I can't stop reading until it's finished, though I try to slow down because I don't want the book to end.  I'm afraid of spoiling the novel with more details, but I'd give this book an A and recommend it to anyone who read the Assistant to the Villain, book 1, with the warning that I don't know when book 3 will debut, so all the fans of this series will have to cultivate their patience for more of this amazing fantasy story.

 

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz is a YA mystery/romance with a dark Victorian heart that's reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes stories and Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell books. I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, considering horror is my least favorite genre. But the characters and the dark, clever prose kept me turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: "Schwartz's magical novel is at once gripping and tender, and the intricate plot is engrossing as the reader tries to solve the mystery. She doesn't miss a beat in either the characterization or action, scattering clues with a delicate, precise hand. This is, in the end, the story of the anatomy of the human heart." - Booklist

Dana Schwartz’s Anatomy: A Love Story is a gothic tale full of mystery and romance.

Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry. Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.

When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, Beecham will allow her to continue her medical career. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books—she’ll need corpses to study.

Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living. But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets, and the dreaded Roman Fever, which wiped out thousands a few years ago, is back with a vengeance. Nobody important cares—until Hazel.

Now, Hazel and Jack must work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society. 

 

While most women know that historically, females were barred from most professions in the misogynist patriarchal society of the early 19th century, This book brings the story of women's struggle to become doctors (or medical professionals other than nurses) into sharp focus, and plops us down in the midst of the bloody era of Burke and Hare, the two grave robbers who were caught digging up corpses from fresh graves and selling the corpses to medical schools, like the famed Edinburgh college of surgeons, who would use corpses for student doctors anatomy lessons.Stories of this era are not usually told from the perspective of the grave robbers, but instead are told from those on the outside who found the practice horrifying and gruesome. So it was refreshing to read Jack's tale of being a starving kid on the street who can only survive from selling corpses, and of his encounters with Hazel, who desperately wants to be a surgeon, yet is barred from being a physician or even a medical student by her sex. I was excited by the realism of the story, in that I could imagine Jack and Hazel's lives, right up until, for some odd reason, the author added magic to the final pages to keep the male protagonist alive. Why, I cannot fathom. But for Hazel, being a healer was the most important part of her ambitions, so she was able to achieve some form of that, which was a miracle in and of it self. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical romance and mystery.

 

Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan is yet another YA romantasy along the same lines as Sarah J Maas, complete with the abused heroine trope and the dangerous royal love interests not far behind. The prose was a bit frothy and overwritten and it stalled the plot by having too many internal monologues, but I waded through it until the blessed end. Here's the blurb: Author Lexi Ryan brings us the first book in a new romantic fantasy set in the enchanting world of These Hollow Vows. When a human princess armed with death's kiss allies with a fae shifter on the run, their mission to assassinate an evil king collides with a fatal prophecy.

Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.

Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.

When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.

While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.

The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.

So the romantasy cliches that abound here became really tedious by the 4th chapter. The female protagonists, Felicity and Jasalyn both fall in love (and become distracted, weak and somewhat wimpy) with the men that they're using to accomplish their goals, and when they're unmasked it becomes all about male dominance, when the King and Kendrick do a full court press of guilt and shaming without mercy to these two young women they've purported to love for most of the book. What follows is a lot of crying and whinging about lost love and what could have been, and there was an obvious set up for the next book in the haphazard and loose ending.  I felt that this book could have been edited to a tight 300+ pages, instead of a bloated 400+ pages. Therefore I'd give it a C+, and only recommend it to Sarah J Maas fans who can't get enough of tortured heroines and the brave bad boys that they fall for.

 

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin was a historical fiction novel with a romantic subtext woven throughout. The prose was clean and straight as an arrow, while the plot moved along at a dignified pace. This was a tale told from inside the French resistance, and while I feel that WWII books have been played out for the past 15 years, this POV seemed fresh and exciting. Here's the blurb: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London comes a moving new novel inspired by the true history of America’s library spies of World War II.

Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence.

Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

As the battle in Europe rages, Ava and Elaine find themselves connecting through coded messages and discovering hope in the face of war. 

 

Having read The Last Bookshop in London, I knew what to expect from this book, but was gratified by the intricacies of spycraft for women detailed in the novel, and the fact that both Ava and Elaine were strong women who faced danger without flinching. I was also fascinated by the printing process for the resistance pamphlets, and the smuggling of parts and eventually of food that was a daily part of so many lives. It has always bothered me that in most WWII books that focus on the various resistance cells, America's infiltration of Europe and liberation is somewhat sneered at by the authors of these books, who make the assumption that the French and the British would have been fine without the muscle and equipment that Americans brought to the table. This is a patently false historical rewrite. WWII would have been lost to the Nazi's without American intervention. And while Japans surrender is spoken of in a vague way, it was America and the American president who had the courage to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to get them to surrender to the Allied powers. It was a terrible, but necessary decision to make. At any rate, I'd give this novel a B- and recommend it to anyone who liked "All the Light We Cannot See."

How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley is a fun and funny "found family" novel of the hijinks that ensue when a bunch of senior citizens (all of whom have secrets) get together to try and save their community center. Here's the blurb: “Pooley weaves together the most cleverly flawed and lovable characters and then sets them free to prove that we are limitless at any age.” —Annabel Monaghan

A senior citizens’ center and a daycare collide with hilarious results in the new ensemble comedy from  author Clare Pooley

When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards.

The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.

When the city council threatens to sell the doomed community center building, the members of the Social Club join forces with their tiny friends in the daycare next door—as well as the teenaged father of one of the toddlers and a geriatric dog—to save the building. Together, this group’s unorthodox methods may actually work, as long as the police don’t catch up with them first.

There's something so deliciously wonderful when the young and the old get together to fix their community, and the warmth that comes with helping one another, that I couldn't put this ebook down, though it had me laughing and crying in equal measure. The dauntless and ferocious Daphne was my favorite of the band of misfit elders in this book, primarily because she got sh*t done, and she didn't put up with any guff from anyone. That said, Ruby's hilarious revenge yarn-bombing (a giant knitted penis attached to the Segway of a cheating jerk of a husband? Yes, please) kept the story from falling into moments of despair, as the seniors did their best to win a competition to save their community center. There are so few books written (or TV shows, or movies) with seniors as the protagonists, that I can't help but recommend this A level book to all and sundry, with a reminder that everyone will eventually become an elderly person in need of quality time with others lest they wither away from loneliness. 

Patriarchy At Fault for Men's Lack of Reading, Regretting You Movie, Percey Jackson Season Two, JK Rowling Named in Cyberbullying Suit, Publishing Stays Racist, Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell, Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook, The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller and Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot

Holla fellow bibliophiles and b0ok sniffers! We are already halfway through August, and, as I've been struggling with a bad upper respiratory infection and bronchitis, its been a rough week for me to find the energy to read or even get out of bed. But I'm feeling better after some antibiotics, so I figured I would give it the old college try today. Please forgive me if the reviews are somewhat terse, I'm not at 100 percent yet.

 

I agree that this is total BS, and we, as a society, should be focused on irradicating the patriarchy and its toxic masculinity.

 

Spoiler: It’s the Patriarchy

A few things in life are guaranteed: death, taxes, and that every so often, the Discourse decides to fuel itself by musing about why men don’t read novels. (And no, it’s not because book cover design alienates men, though I do have a 1,000-word essay in me about that for another day.) This issue of men and fiction is not a new question, or even, frankly, an interesting one. Since the 18th century,  fiction has been aimed at and increasingly ruled by leisured women, and thanks to the magic of capitalist patriarchy in which men are seen as most successfully male when they are most visibly productive, men are incentivized to affirm their masculinity by distancing themselves from any cultural product that is primarily associated with women.

Men receive a centuries-old message that if you want to be sigma (greetings, fellow kids!), you better stay on the grindset, and that means only reading nonfiction, if you read at all. And it’s a huge bummer! Fiction is fun and edifying. Men should get to enjoy all of its benefits, and the rest of us should get to enjoy a world in which men aren’t so constrained by narrow definitions of masculinity. It’s almost like patriarchy is bad for everyone! The next time someone feels the urge to write a “Why don’t men read fiction?” piece, I hope they’ll pick up Liz Plank’s  For the Love of Men instead and redirect their time and energy to the real problem.

This looks fascinating. I hope to get the chance to watch it.

 

Movies: Regretting You

Allison Williams will star in Regretting You

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPZkLgI6a5idhtxGA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUC5HwpoMLg-gVdw, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's 2019 novel, Deadline reported. Directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), the project will be written by Susan McMartin.

The news hit as Sony's theatrical release of Hoover's It Ends With Us

adaptation, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, was in the midst

of a big opening weekend, Deadline noted. In addition, an adaptation of

her 2018 novel Verity, from writer Hillary Seitz and producers Nick

Antosca and Alex Hedlund, is currently in development.

I really enjoyed the first season of this YA book inspired TV show, so I'm excited for the second season to debut next year.

 

TV: Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Season 2 

Additional cast members have been announced for season 2 of Percy

Jackson and the Olympians https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscVPZw7gI6a5idkpzEg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6mUC8LwpoMLg-gVdw, based on Rick Riordan's bestselling YA book series, Deadline reported.

Disney revealed who will be playing the Gray Sisters: Sandra Bernhard as

Anger, Kristen Schaal as Tempest, and Margaret Cho as Wasp. Production

on Season 2 just began in Vancouver.

The new season will follow Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Annabeth

Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries), and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) "as

they embark on a new adventure based on The Sea of Monsters, the second

book of Riordan's series." The cast also includes Daniel Diemer as Tyson

the Cyclops, Percy's paternal half-brother.

I'm so very disappointed in JKR, not only for being a transphobic asshat, but also for using her fame to defame a female Olympic boxer who is, ironically, not a trans person. For SHAME JKR!

J.K. Rowling Named in Olympic Boxer’s Cyberbullying Suit

J.K. Rowling has a long, ugly history of transphobic comments—the reason Book Riot hasn’t promoted her books or products for several years—and has now been named in a criminal complaint filed by Algerian boxer Imane Khelif . Rowling will be investigated for “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” for messages she posted to her more than 14 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) accusing Khelif, who won gold in the women’s 66kg boxing competition, of being a man who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.” Khelif was assigned female at birth and does not identify as transgender (not that any of this would behavior would be acceptable if she did). Khelif, who should have been able to revel in her moment as an Olympic athlete at the top of her game, instead spent much of the Games fighting a bad-faith dispute over her eligibility that was driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories. May her efforts succeed.

Though this is unsurprising, it fills me with shame for publishing companies...come on, it's the 21st century, for crying out loud! WTF?!

Publishing Stays Racist

If you thought publishing turned a new leaf after Black Lives Matter protests generated a reckoning with systemic racism across industries, think again. Professional artists and writers are talking about how racism and stereotyping continue to find their way onto the covers of books authored by BIPOC writers , and how debut writers in particular are discouraged to push back and advocate for themselves in publishing spaces where they’re told their books won’t succeed without certain visual stereotypes and signaling. Think of the countless color blob covers you’ve seen on shelves, or covers featuring happy people of different hues metaphorically or even literally embracing. Artistic choices like these might seem harmless on their face, but they often belie a mentality that books by these writers are not marketable unless they scream BIPOC CONTENT INSIDE, no matter the actual content of the book, and a default to marketing to a very particular demographic (read, white).

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell is a YA-ish romance novel about a woman who isn't identified as such, though all her actions scream AUTISTIC, and her best friend/first love from high school, and how they meet up years later and finally give their love a chance. Here's the blurb:

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends.Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh’s thirty-three, and it’s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She’s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she’s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there—and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.

Though I've read two other books by Rowell, each complete with quirky characters, I wasn't prepared for how much I disliked the female protagonist, Shiloh. She was mean and weird and seemed to connect pain with sexuality/love. For example, instead of wanting to just kiss Cary, she wanted (and did) to bite him (like an aggressive toddler) hard enough to bruise. Her pride in not seeming to understand his feelings for her was also bizarre. I'm not quite sure why he found her so attractive, considering the number of times she rejected him or made him feel like there was something wrong with him for wanting to be with her, (and not trusting him to know his own heart/feelings), but he consistently mooned over Shy, as he called her, throughout the book. I felt that there were a number of redundancies in their love story as well, which slowed the plot down considerably. The prose was as awkward as Shy and Cary's encounters, and I felt the sex scenes were too odd to be enjoyable. I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to those who still carry a torch for their high school crushes.

 

Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook is a historical mystery/adventure about a woman who seeks to find out the reason behind her sister's death at sea. Here's the blurb: A young woman searches for the truth about her sister, who boarded a ship headed to the frozen Arctic and never returned in this “engrossing historical mystery” (The Washington Post).

Twenty-year-old Constance Horton has run away from her life in Victorian London, disguising herself as a boy to board the Makepeace, an expedition vessel bound for the icy and unexplored Northwest Passage of the Arctic. She struggles to keep her real identity a secret on the ship, a feat that only grows more difficult when facing the constant dangers of the icy North.

Even more dangerous than the cold, the storms, and the hunger, are some of the men aboard—including the ship’s scientist Edison Stowe. He’s watching Constance, and she knows that his attention could be fatal.

In London two years later: Maude Horton is searching for the truth. After being told by the British Admiralty that her sister’s death onboard the Makepeace was nothing more than a tragic accident, she receives a diary revealing that Edison Stowe had more of a hand in Constance’s death than the returning crew acknowledged.

In order to get the answers she needs, Maude shadows Edison. She joins him on a new venture he’s started to capitalize on the murder mania that has all of London in a frenzy—a travel company that takes guests around the country via train to witness public hangings—to extract the truth from him in any way possible. 

The fact that Edison Stowe is a psychopathic murderer isn't actually spelled out, though the chapters from his POV show him to be a narcissist and racist/classist scam artist whose only interest in life is making money and gaining glory for himself. People are only to be used for whatever they can give him, be it a place to stay or money to extract. Between his evil and Maude's lack of backbone, I found myself being frustrated with this sad tale, and wishing that Maude would put the pieces together and get revenge on Stowe sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out that way, and Stowe is killed by a scumbag moneylender, not by Maude herself. So I'm not sure why the author called the book a "glorious revenge" when it wasn't glorious at all. I'd give this sad and grim tale about what can happen to women who step outside of their traditional roles, a B-, and recommend it to anyone who likes tales of women who dressed as men historically and met bad ends.

 

The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller is the sequel to the Shadows Between Us, both historical romantasy that's brimming with amazing costumes and sets, somewhat like a fantasy version of Bridgerton. This book is also beautifully made, with stamped edges and gorgeous cover art. Here's the blurb:

Featuring spray-painted and stenciled edges, a metallic foil case stamp, detailed map endpapers, a deleted scene and a ribbon, The Darkness Within Us is a wickedly delightful companion novel to Tricia Levenseller's The Shadows Between Us.

Chrysantha Stathos has won.
By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has become a wealthy duchess. And, once her elderly husband dies, she will have all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted.

Or so she thought.
A man claiming to be the estranged grandson of Chrysantha’s lecherous late husband has turned up to steal her inheritance. To make matters worse, her little sister is going to be queen and is rubbing it in her face.

Chrysantha decides that the only thing to do is upstage Alessandra at her own wedding. And as for this grandson, he has to go. Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive with mysterious powers . . . No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants.

The prose was deliciously fun and the plot slipped along like skates on ice, swift and elegant. I loved the enemies to lovers trope here, and though I found Chrysantha's mean-spirited attitude towards everyone somewhat off-putting, it was good to see her grab hold of the olive branch with her sister and try to mend their relationship. I also liked that C cared deeply about her servants and how they were treated. I felt that it humanized her and took some of her sharp edges off. I also respected her quest to have a home and money of her own, so that she could be independent and run her life as she saw fit, especially after the death of the lewd and crude old man she was married to in the beginning of the novel. It was a tightly written novel, which is becoming more and more rare these days, and I would give this story an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers stories.

 

Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot is a breezy romantic comedy ebook that I picked up for a song on Amazon. I expected an enemies to lovers story, but I didn't expect a One percenter Nepo baby with a trust fund who is also a jackass vs a poor working freelance food blogger who has had to work and scrape for everything she has suddenly falling in love over expensive plates of food in NYC. Here's the blurb:

Two restaurant critics learn their opposing tastes might make for a five-star relationship in the next foodie romantic comedy.
By day, Julie Zimmerman works as an executive assistant. After hours, she’s @JulieZeeEatsNYC, a social media restaurant reviewer with over fifty thousand followers. As much as she loves her self-employed side gig, what Julie really wants is to be a critic at a major newspaper, like the New York Scroll. The only thing worse than the Scroll’s rejection of her application is the fact that smarmy, social-media-averse society boy Bennett Richard Macalester Wright snagged her dream job.
 
While at the Central Park Food Festival, Julie confronts the annoyingly handsome Bennett about his outdated opinions on social media and posts the resulting video footage. Julie's follower count soars—and so does the Scroll’s. Julie and Bennett grudgingly agree to partner up for a few reviews to further their buzz. Online buzz, obviously.
 
Over tapas, burgers, and more, Julie and Bennett connect over their shared love of food. But when the competitive fire between them turns extra spicy, they'll have to decide how much heat their relationship can take.

Elliot's prose is lush and descriptive, as Julie discovers each new bite of flavorful food at restaurants all over NYC. But just as she's getting somewhere with her vlog, along comes Bennett the snob to be stuffy and classist and ruin all her chances at having a steady job reviewing restaurants. Worse, he got the job because he's an upper class (read: rich) white guy who the old white guys think will bring in new viewers/readers to the stodgy newspaper food section by ripping off Julie's style and wit. UGH. Misogyny strikes again. But, as usual, since this is a romance, Julie suddenly goes from being righteously outraged to being putty in the hands of Bennett, because he's just so *dreamy* (insert eye roll here). Apparently all it takes to get a smart, savvy woman under rich white guy's control is nice pecs and a fine layer of body hair. I was glad, however, that Julie quit her assistant job and went to work for her best techie friend, and built her vlog up so that she could do what she loved full time. However, I don't think any of her new life would have been possible had she not moved into Bennett's fancy apartment. But whatever. I'd give this fun book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who has had to overcome a lot of hurdles on the way to fulfilling their dreams.