It's already the second week of May, and I've read through 5 books and I will be done with my TBR stack before the month is out. Tomorrow is Mother's Day, the first one I will have to celebrate without my own mom, who died this past March. She was a great mom, and I miss her so much, it hurts. She wasn't the kind of person who stood on ceremony, and she disliked most holidays and was very anti-religion. So she would tell me, if she were still here, to rest, relax and have a cup of tea in her honor. Happy Mother's Day to all the hard working moms out there.
Speaking of Mother's Day, I am hoping that my son Nick will take me to this new B&N store in downtown Seattle tomorrow, where I can stock up on a few items. Both Nick and I have been ill with some kind of respiratory infection that only subsides once you're on antibiotics. Since we both got on antibiotics a few days ago, we're feeling better, so I'm hoping we will be well enough for at least a quick visit.
B&N
Opening New Space in Seattle
B&N
is also opening its new bookstore in Seattle, Wash., today. The store returns downtown after the
location in Pacific Place closed in January 2020. Located at 520 Pike
St., the 18,000-square-foot space is situated a couple of blocks from the
Convention Center and Pike Place Market.
The official opening to the public will
feature local author Robin Hobb cutting the ribbon and signing copies
of her book Blood of Dragons: Volume Four of the Rain Wilds
Chronicles.
"The return of a major bookstore
to Downtown Seattle is testament both to the revitalization of the downtown
area and the vigor of bookselling generally," said James Daunt, CEO
of Barnes & Noble. "The Downtown Seattle Barnes & Noble was for many
years a flagship for the bookseller. We are very pleased to restore this
again with the new Pike Street bookstore."
This was a fun novel, so I can hardly wait to see what they do with it in a movie. Speaking of adaptations, Remarkably Bright Creatures, based on the book by Shelby Van Pelt, has been made into a Netflix movie that I watched last night, and although its not as good as the book, I still cried, and loved seeing Marcellus brought to life (he's a wise old Octopus).
Movies:
Better Than the Movies
Julia Hart (I'm Your Woman) will direct
a film adaptation of Better Than the Movies, the bestselling YA novel by
Lynn Painter, for Netflix, Deadline reported. Hart is also a co-writer on
the project with her husband and creative partner Jordan Horowitz, who
will produce for Original Headquarters alongside Shauna Phelan.
Better Than the Movies "is a love
letter to romantic comedies, in which senior Liz Buxbaum relies on her
obsession with rom-com movies to get the attention of her untouchable crush,
with an assist from her annoying but cute next-door neighbor,"
Deadline wrote.
These scammers and AI bots are becoming more bold and horrible by the day. It's evil, and completely unnecessary. Hoppefully it is something that will fade away over time.
Author,
Editor on Bookish Phishing Scams
“It's so hard to be an author. It's
also super hard to keep an independent publishing company afloat
for nearly 30 years... and this scam and whoever or whatever is behind
it is just such a waste of time and hurtful, unnecessarily
hurtful.”--Johanna Ingalls, managing editor & director of
foreign rights, Akashic Books
Phishing scams directed at authors are
all the rage (or, more accurately, rage-making) in the book
trade. Just yesterday in Shelf Awareness Pro, we ran an Editor's Note
warning that names of some of our staff members have been used in
recent phishing attempts.
As it happens, I've been in
conversation about the topic recently with author Jessica Keener, whose latest
novel, Evening Begins the Day (Koehler Books), was released in March;
and Johanna Ingalls at Akashic Books.
"Covid spawned a new era of online
events and activities," Keener observed. "But this AI-generated
flood of online marketing spam is another beast. It's targeting that
vulnerable streak that every author has--a need, and hunger to grow their
reader base and sell more books."
And
when I e-mailed Keener to clarify some details, she said she had just "deleted and blocked yet
another long letter appealing to how great my new book is and how they would like
to help me expand readership via Goodreads and Litsy.
"It's almost pathetic. The
marketing letters use AI and repurpose familiar descriptions of the book
online, and sentences from reviews found online. It's endless!" Be careful out there.--Robert Gray,
contributing editor
I guess that Amazon isn't satisfied with getting a big boost to their bottom line in July, so they've got to move the date for Prime Day forward...corporate greed is disgusting.
Amazon
Shifts Prime Day from July to June
Amazon has confirmed earlier media
reports that Prime Day 2026 will take place in June rather than in July, when
it has been held since 2015. The company gave no reason for the
change and has not yet officially released dates for the four-day
sales event for Prime members, saying only: "Stay tuned--we'll share more details as the
event approaches."
In March, Bloomberg had reported that
the change was coming, citing people familiar with the matter and
noting: "The change will affect both Amazon and its constellation of
third-party vendors, which count on the discounting surge to attract shoppers.
Since Amazon captures about 40 cents of every dollar spent online, the
timing of Prime Day is also closely watched by competitors, which
look to draft off of the promotions and web traffic."
This was one of Nick's favorite books for me to read to him when he was little. I thought it was pretty awesome, being a children's book about anti-violence and anti-animal abuse.
The
Story of Ferdinand Exhibition Opens at the Carle Museum
Tomorrow an exhibition celebrating the
90th anniversary of the publication of the classic The Story of
Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson, the tale
of a bull that didn't want to fight, opens at the Eric Carle Museum
of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass. The exhibition includes the
original manuscript and drawings for the book, as well as material from the
animated Disney film and Ferdinand memorabilia. Under the Cork
Tree: The Story of Ferdinand runs until November 8.
Burn Bright by Krista & Becca Ritchie is a deliciously written and beautifully produced YA romance, with a gorgeous cover and blue butterfly end papers. Though it's ridiculously long (over 700 pages), it is a fast and fun read, with a lot of teenage melodrama and emotions flying everywhere. Here's the blurb: He's a rich jock with a larger-than-life family. She's a punk-rock nerd with a troubled past. (editor's note: troubled past equals growing up poor with parents who are either criminals, drug addicts, divorced and/or mentally unfit to raise a child...because of course children of wealthy parents have much more love and support for their childhoods...blech! Classist nonsense!).
Ben Cobalt is number six. Not sixth place—in fact, he’d be considered at least third draft
pick for the NHL if he didn’t quit hockey during college. And he’s not
sixth-in-line for any throne. Though, most consider his
larger-than-life, billionaire family American royalty.
He is the sixth-born Cobalt.
Out
of a normal family of seven, he might get lost in the shuffle. But
being the black sheep of the Cobalt Empire comes with its own intense
spotlight. After he hits a major low at college in Philly, his four
older brothers convince him to move in with them in New York City.
Transferring to Manhattan Valley University—piece of cake.
Living in an apartment with all of his brothers while harboring a giant secret among a family who’s more tight-knit than a secret society—total effing chaos.
He
has to find a way out of the tense living arrangement, especially as he
clashes with his oldest brother Charlie. Ben turns to an unlikely
source for help. A grumpy, punk-rock girl with a troubled past who's
already pissed off one Cobalt brother.
So when an undeniable
attraction ignites, Harriet Fisher is expecting the flames to die out.
Except…what happens when they don’t? Falling for a Cobalt brother with
secrets might be a Shakespearean tragedy she can't rewind. Amazon bot reviewers claim this is an adult romance novel, but the main characters are all in their late teens or early 20s, just like most YA lit, and the romance is very "exploratory" because the characters are so young and have never been in love before. The so-called "Giant Secret" Ben is hiding is that he's mentally ill with OCD, which somehow leads him to believe every bad thing that happens to his brothers and sister, or his beloved Harriet, is his responsibility, because he's somehow poisoned with bad luck. Several of his other brothers are also in therapy and dealing with mental illness, as is his father, who, despite all attempts to the contrary, sounds like a controlling asshat one-percenter (his mother is, of course, more sane, but still cold and controlling). Ben is ridiculously naive and childishly innocent, because he can't beat any kind of violence or killing...not even of bugs (like cockroaches, which are vile and filthy bugs that carry a variety of diseases). Harriet is also dealing with terrible self esteem issues, and doesn't feel worthy of love or care from the famed Cobalt brothers and family. She has, in the past, given out blow jobs in exchange for things she needs, or to help others get what they need. This is couched in sneering terms, as if she's tainted by being sexually active while not "in love" with her "soul mate." Which is misogynistic bullcrap. But, in the end, after everyone has had their running-away freak-out, the two main characters are together and happily going forward with their lives. I couldn't figure out, after Harriet discovers what a jerk her father the surgeon is, why she still insists on going to medical school to become a doctor, which she originally wanted to do to show him that she was "worthy" of his love and attention. When it becomes obvious that she's never going to get that, I would have assumed she'd drop expensive med school and become a drummer in a punk band. But it is inferred that now that she has all the monetary backing of the Cobalts, that she must excel at her career and become worthy of the love of that wealthy family, which is gross. Still, the fast plot and the tight and glossy prose made this a page-turning doorstop read. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has ever dreamed of being inside a one-percenter family and having access to anything they want in life.
The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith is the sequel YA romantasy to The Rose Bargain, and it's darker and more depressing than the first book in the series, unfortunately. Here's the blurb: Wed to one brother. In love with the other.
Bridgerton, The Selection, and The Cruel Prince collide in this Victorian-inspired romantasy; the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Rose Bargain.
Having won the hand of the faerie King Bram, Ivy is now Queen of England.
But
with his ascension to the throne, Bram unleashed the fae into the human
world. After hundreds of years of being kept from their favorite
playthings, the Others are looking to make up for lost time—and they do,
with wicked revelry that sweeps through the country.
To
survive, Ivy acts the sweet, devoted wife. Behind the smile, she plots
to banish her husband, save her sister Lydia, and reunite with the love
of her life, Emmett.
Yet
Emmet and Lydia are trapped in the Otherworld, where fae games are
deadlier than ever—and a queen must play most viciously of all. Or see
herself dethroned.
Forbidden
romance, deceptive bargains, and lethal court intrigue intertwine in
this mesmerizing, fae romantasy sequel that will captivate fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart and Belladonna.
This is a "dark" fantasy, which generally means horror genre level of plot, but here they also indulge in plenty of "torture" porn, with young women getting jailed, chained, beaten, etc, over and over, yet somehow still surviving to whine and fight a losing battle the next day. The fae are portrayed here as nothing but immature psychopaths whose only interest in humans is how to torture, kill and abuse them. There never seems to be anyway for Ivy to win in the otherworld, where she's kept captive by the evil and capricious (read: cruel and childish) King Bram. Things slow down at the end, but most of the book is taken up with the creative ways that magical fae can abuse and kill mere mortals for sport. If you're in any way disgusted by serial killers, then skip this book and buy something a bit less painful. The prose wasn't as clear as it should have been, often falling prey to the overly flowery description of 19th and early 20th century authors. The plot meanders a bit, but eventually gets you there. I'd give this book a B-, and only recommend it to those who find horror-romance hybrids fascinating.
Anywhere You Go by Bridget Morrissey is an LGBTQ romantic comedy that is whimsical and sparkling. Here's the blurb: Two
women discover love after swapping their homes. Fleeing the messiness
of their personal lives, a small-town waitress and a big-city Broadway
press agent swap addresses and lives in this queer contemporary romance.
Tatum
Ward and Eleanor Chapman lead totally opposite lives. Tatum’s never
left her Midwestern hometown. She resides in a quaint guest cottage on
her parents’ property while working part-time as a waitress, where she
spends most shifts ignoring her feelings for a beautiful regular named
June. Eleanor dedicates every waking hour to her high-profile press
career, sacrificing personal relationships for professional success,
save for the occasional hookup to fight off her loneliness. When both
women’s lives unexpectedly blow up at the exact same time, they each
need an escape, and fast.
In Tatum’s hometown, Eleanor expects a
quiet hideaway where she can recharge. Instead she gets wrapped up in
the family drama that Tatum left town to avoid, pulled in by Tatum’s
charismatic older sibling, Carson, who charms Eleanor at every turn.
Tatum ends up in Eleanor’s New York high-rise apartment with
June. One week together in the big city might make it impossible for
Tatum to avoid not just her true feelings for June, but her real dreams
for her life.
Amid a friendship with a reclusive Hollywood
actress and a complicated family reunion, Tatum and Eleanor each
discover much more than they bargained for away from home. Their house
swap won’t last forever, but it might be just long enough for both women
to surrender their defenses and finally fight for the life—and
love—they deserve.
Though I enjoyed the queer romance aspect of this novel, and the country mouse vs city mouse swap, I felt that there needed to be a bit more depth to the characters and their backgrounds, which are kind of glossed over. I also found Carson confusing, as They were portrayed as gender non binary, but without the background to know how they had evolved into the person they were now...so readers are unsure if Carson is a trans male or female. For me, (realizing that I'm a dinosaur) it meant that I found the love scenes confusing and the sexual attraction murky at best. Still, the prose was strong and the plot fun and zippy. I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone interested in lesbian and non binary romances.
The Witch and The Vampire by Francesca Flores was a stiff and bumpy YA "dark" LGBTQ romantasy that became tedious and derivative before it was halfway through. Here's the blurb: Francesca Flores's The Witch and the Vampire
is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no
one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with
danger at every turn.
Ava and Kaye used to be best
friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the
magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s
mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava
has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still
has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that
she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop
her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the
forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is
another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.
Kaye, now
at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her
duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On
the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel
together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava
agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic
feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.
But
with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from
above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger.
As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she
thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat―and also
their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.
As per usual with horror (called "dark") romantasy novels, there was a great deal of blood and torture and pain heaped on the main characters and everyone they love, while Ava's quest to become part of a "nice" vampire nest turns out to be futile, because there are no nice vamps, and she is apparently alone in her quest to not drink the blood of humans to survive. The book starts out depressing and only gets darker and more pain-filled as it goes along, on a plot that dips and bumps like a mile of bad road. I'd give this poor quality book a C, and recommend it to those who actually liked the awfulness that was Twilight.
From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper is a witchy rom-com that should have been added to the YA genre, especially since the main characters are "finding themselves" as people and for future careers. Here's the blurb: Opposites attract in this wickedly charming rom-com by Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback’s a Witch.
Wild child Isidora Avramov is a thrill chaser, adept demon summoner,
and—despite the whole sexy-evil-sorceress vibe—also a cuddly animal
lover. When she’s not designing costumes and new storylines for the
Arcane Emporium’s haunted house, Issa's nursing a secret, conflicted
dream of ditching her family’s witchy business to become an indie
fashion designer in her own right.
But when someone starts
sabotaging the celebrations leading up to this year’s Beltane festival
with dark, dangerous magic, a member of the rival Thorn family gets
badly hurt—throwing immediate suspicion on the Avramovs. To clear the
Avramov name and step up for her family when they need her the most,
Issa agrees to serve as a co-investigator, helping none other than Rowan
Thorn get to the bottom of things.
Rowan is the very definition
of lawful good, so tragically noble and by-the-book he makes Issa’s
teeth hurt. In accordance with their families’ complicated history, he
and Issa have been archenemies for years and have grown to heartily
loathe each other. But as the unlikely duo follow a perplexing trail of
clues to a stunning conclusion, Issa and Rowan discover how little they
really know each other… and stumble upon a maddening attraction that
becomes harder to ignore by the day.
There's a serious Romeo and Juliet vibe in the romance of Rowan and Issa, though they're older than Shakespeare's tragic teen lovers. I liked that there was also the enemies to lovers trope involved here because it bolstered the somewhat thin plot. The prose was lush and intricate enough to keep the reader going along the trail of mystery set out at the beginning of the book. I'd give it a B- and recommend it to anyone interested in rival family drama and witchy magic.
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