I read EOE when I was a teenager, and I was disgusted and appalled at Cathy Ames, incestuous pedophile and total dumpster fire of a human being...and a waste of oxygen. It should be interesting to see how they try to excuse her evil behavior and make her into an "anti-hero" in this film.
TV:
East of Eden
A teaser has been released for East of
Eden, the Netflix limited series based on John Steinbeck's classic
novel that is being adapted by Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of filmmaker
Elia Kazan, whose 1955 film version of the book starred James Dean
and Jo Van Fleet. "Talk about generational
inheritance," IndieWire commented.
The new series stars Florence Pugh,
Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Ciarán Hinds, Martha
Plimpton, Joseph Zada, and Joe Anders. It is described as a "fresh
interpretation of Steinbeck's masterpiece [that] explores the
timeless story of good & evil through the multigenerational saga of the Trask
family and its chilling, indelible antihero, Cathy Ames." (Editors note: it is common now instead of calling someone an antagonist or an evil character, that film and book people like to use softened language like "antihero" to make the evil character more attractive to readers and viewers...this is complete and utter BS, IMO).
"I fell in love with East of Eden
when I first read it, in my teens," Zoe Kazan had said when the project was
first announced. "Since then, adapting Steinbeck's novel, the great,
sprawling, three-generational entirety of it, has been my dream. More
than anything, I have wanted to give full expression to the novel's
astonishing, singular anti-heroine, Cathy Ames. Florence Pugh is our dream
Cathy; I can't imagine a more thrilling actor to bring this character
to life."
Kevin is the author of the children's books, the Totally Ninja Raccoon series. I think its horrible that he's having to close the store.
From
My Shelf Books & Gifts, Wellsboro, Pa., to Close
From My Shelf Books & Gifts in
Wellsboro, Pa., will close permanently in the months ahead, NorthCentralPA.com
reported.
In a Facebook post, owners Kevin and
Kasey Coolidge said they've decided to close the new and used
bookstore and have launched a major liquidation sale. Everything in
store will be 60% off for store members, while nonmembers will
receive 30% off. The store will continue to accept special orders for
the time being.
"It's hard to believe the final
pages are turning," the owners wrote. "We've loved being your local
bookstore, your quiet escape, and the only place in town where you could get a
literary recommendation from a feline."
They encouraged customers to continue
to support independent, bricks-and-mortar bookstores and not
switch to online retailers. And though they did not give an official
closing date, they expect to be operating the bookstore until at least
mid-July.
Not Quite Mine by Catherine Bybee is a misogynistic romance that has men and women in their trope/stereotypical roles of big overly possessive he-man and fragile woman who only wants love and a baby, because, of course, motherhood is all a woman is good for and can strive for...everything else is meaningless without a baby and a family with your handsome caveman. UGH. If you even have an ounce of feminism in you, this book will turn your stomach. Here's the blurb:
Gorgeous hotel heiress Katelyn “Katie” Morrison seems to have
it all. But when she crosses paths with Dean Prescott―the only man she’s
ever loved―at her brother’s wedding, Katie realizes there’s a gaping
hole in her life. After the ceremony she gets an even bigger surprise: a
baby girl left on her doorstep. Determined to keep the newborn until
she learns who her mother is, Katie has her hands full and doesn’t need
Dean snooping around…especially when his presence stirs feelings she
thought were long gone...
Dean Prescott knows Katie
is lying to him about the baby. He shouldn’t care what the woman who
broke his heart is up to…and he most certainly shouldn’t still be aching
for her. Yet Dean can’t ignore the need to protect Katie―or the desire
to be near her every chance he gets. But when he and Katie solve the
mystery surrounding the baby, their second chance for happiness could be
shattered forever.
What they're calling "protection" in the blurb is lust and misogyny, wherein the male protagonist has the hots for the female protagonist and can't seem to keep it in his pants or off his mind, he must dominate and possess her, and once he discovers she has a child thrust upon her (she can't have children of her own due to "woman issues" that are vaguely explained, and of course which don't keep her from enthusiastically enjoying sex, though its very vanilla sex). He of course assumes because she's a woman, and therefore frail and weak and stupid, that she can't take care of herself, and he must be manly and keep all other suitors away from her, not caring what she wants or needs. He, of course, almost married another woman, and when it comes to light (SPOILER) that this former fiance was pregnant with his child when he left her at the altar, and then left the baby with Katie, whom she felt would be a better mother because Dean revealed he was in love with her (this just didn't seem realistic at all to me, and it made Dean seem like a jackass), Dean ups his stalking ante and proceeds to try and find out what Katie's hiding and who the real parents of the child are...and once he finds out that it's him, he immediately wants to marry Katie and have the three of them be a family. Of course he mentions planning on adopting more kids, which wussy Katie is all on board for, because she loves Dean, and when you love someone apparently you overlook and forgive all their red flags and faults. UGH. Still, the book has fine prose and a rapid-fire plot that will have you finishing the book in an afternoon. I'd give it a B- and only recommend it to women who like "traditional" romances with cis-het characters and sexual tropes.
The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons is a WWII historical fiction novel with romance interwoven through the plot, though it isn't the focus of the book, as, inevitably, most of the men in the book die during the war. Here's the blurb: Fans of The Forgotten Garden and TV’s Downton Abbey will love this sweeping New York Times bestselling historical novel of love and loss.
It’s the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna.
Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of
parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives
at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver
and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is
changing. When the master of Tyneford’s young son, Kit, returns home, he
and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform
Tyneford—and Elise—forever.“The House at Tyneford
is an exquisite tale of love, family, suspense, and survival. Capturing
with astonishing detail and realism a vanished world of desire and hope
trapped beneath rigid class convention, Natasha Solomons’s stunning new
novel tells the story of Elise Landau, a Jewish Austrian teenager from a
family of artists, who is forced to flee her home in Vienna carrying
only a guide to household management and her father’s last novel, hidden
on pages stuffed inside a viola. Elise hides as a parlor maid in a fine
English country estate, but soon she discovers that passion can be
found in the most unexpected places. Already a bestseller in Britain,
American readers will thrill to The House at Tyneford.”—Katherine Howe
While I enjoyed this story of the bourgeoisie, or middle class Jews of Europe escaping to places like England, where they had to earn a living as servants or in other working class jobs that cared nothing for their skills or expertise as artists, I felt that Elise, a German Jew, was something of an idiot, because, though she was highly educated in Vienna, even after years of living in England, she still had trouble with the English language, and with understanding of the English hierarchy of servants and masters. She seemed to be something of a snob, even without her rich family, and held herself above all the other servants and even her "betters" in the Tyneford household. She was consistently crappy at her job as a maid, and wasn't able to get over her petty sibling rivalry with her sister, who wisely immigrated to America, where there were no bombings or round ups of Jewish people to be killed or placed in death camps. Of course the heir to Tyneford falls in love with her, and she finally succumbs to his charms as well. He inevitably dies in the war, and Elise, ever the social climber, falls in love with his father (I know! Horrible!) and marries him instead. Solomons prose is smooth as silk and flows along a sedate plot that is sometimes barely believable. Still, I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone interested in the immigration of German Jews to England during WWII.
How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway is a rom-com with a women in STEM twist, and though I enjoyed the concept, I felt that the author gave too much priority to the male protagonist, who was a complete jerk for 75% of the book. Here's the blurb: Swipe right for love. Swipe left for disaster. . . . By day, Mel
Strickland is an underemployed helpdesk tech at a startup incubator,
Hatch, where she helps entitled brogrammers “Hatchlings” — who can’t
even fix their own laptops, but are apparently the next wave of startup
geniuses. And by night, she goes on bad dates with misbehaving dudes
she’s matched with on the ubiquitous dating app, Fluttr. Because she grew tired of bad dates, Mel develops her own app that points out which guys on Fluttr are a red flag and why they're not boyfriend material. Most readers find this book a fascinating and fun read, with one mentioning it's particularly appealing to tech-savvy women. The story receives positive feedback for its twists and turns, and readers appreciate its content, with one noting how it provides insight into women's mental health challenges.
I felt that it took too long for Mel to develop a spine and go ahead with her own app, regardless of how intimidated and attracted she felt to "dreamy" Alex Hernandez, who is a real misogynistic piece of work. Why these young women in rom-com and regular romance or even romantasy books can't seen to get their brains to work when they're in the presence of a handsome boy, I don't know. Young women need to realize actions speak louder than words, and Alex's actions don't make him attractive at all. I'd give this book a B-, and recommend it to young women in computer programming who are fed up with all the road blocks they face in STEM fields.
Tea Is For Trouble by Karen Sue Walker is a haunted tearoom cozy mystery that is short but sweet and full of fascinating characters. Here's the blurb: A new life complete with tea, scones, and… murder?
And let’s not forget about the ghost…
When
your fiancé breaks up with you on your 49th birthday, what do you do?
If you’re April May, you buy a huge Victorian home on a whim and open a
tearoom featuring lace tablecloths, exotic teas, and dainty sandwiches. No
one told her the house came with a cat in the attic who might just be
guarding a treasure. How else to explain people breaking into her house?
From
the moment she moves in, nothing goes right, but her problems seem
minor when a dead body turns up in her home. Accused of murder, April
teams up with a cantankerous bar owner and a feisty, young antiques
expert to solve the crime.
And what about the
handsome, arrogant chef in her kitchen who no one else can see? She
plans to get medical help for what must be a hallucination, but in the
meantime, he’s putting a tasty French twist on her menu. If you’ve ever wished someone would remake The Ghost and Mrs. Muir as a culinary murder mystery, this book is for you.
Though I loved the movie "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" I didn't feel that this book was anything nearly as sophisticated or intelligent. Though I did enjoy the oddball characters and the ghosts in the house, as well as April May's ability to accept the French chef ghost in the kitchen and learn to cook from him. I just wish there had been more about the tearoom opening up, and all the delicious delicacies and lovely warm tea that April dishes up now that the murder has been solved and its all behind her. Still, I would give this fun fantasy full of ghosts and magic a B+, and recommend it to anyone who likes cozy ghost stories.
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is a women's thriller fiction (though I believe men would enjoy it just as much) with a lot of snark and suspense added to make the plot zing (along with well mannered prose). Here's the blurb: From author Sally Hepworth comes a twisty tale of justice, redemption, and
one irrepressible woman who’s not done breaking the rules just yet.
Meet
Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy,
fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea―or a cutting
remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a
neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying.
Because
Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel
Waller―Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad,
or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for
decades.
Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a
relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road
(armed with stickers, questions, and no sense of personal boundaries);
Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public
interest―the cops are sniffing around, and the media is circling like
seagulls at a picnic.
So Mabel does what she’s always done best―she takes matters into her own hands.
Is she a cantankerous old lady with a shady past? A cold-blooded killer
with arthritis? Or just someone who’s finally ready to tell her side of
the story?
Sharp, surprising, and wickedly funny,
this is the unforgettable story of a woman who’s spent a lifetime being
underestimated―and is about to prove everyone wrong. Again.
I loved nearly all 344 pages of this scintillating novel, complete with a female protagonist who is a senior and isn't some wimpy, whinging pensioner who can't deal with her past and the hard questions lobbed at her by a nosy couple of journalists. I enjoyed her tales of the past, and how she was blamed for things that were not her fault, and railroaded by men into being a convenient scapegoat. It's also worth mentioning that the cover of this book is gorgeous, and that it's a real page-turner...you won't be able to put it down. I'm with Mabel, and I'd give this novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who like Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth is a YA rom-com involving two "engineering" nerds and one young woman who has to do battle with all the misogyny surrounding her in the heavily male dominated field of robotic engineering. Here's the blurb: Opposites attract in this battle-robot-building YA romance from the author of The Atlas Six.
Bel
would rather die than think about the future. College apps? You’re
funny. Extracurriculars? Not a chance. But when she accidentally reveals
a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining
the robotics club. Even worse? All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the
only other girl on the team, doesn't seem to like her either.
Enter
Mateo Luna, captain of the club, who recognizes Bel as a potential
asset—until they start butting heads. Bel doesn’t care about Nationals,
while Teo cares too much. But as the nights of after-school work grow
longer and longer, Bel and Teo realize they've made more than just a
combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Because girls do belong in STEM.
In her YA debut, Alexene Farol Follmuth, explores both the challenges girls of color
face in STEM and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and
honesty. With an adorable, opposites-attract romance at its center and
lines that beg to be read aloud, My Mechanical Romance is swoonworthy perfection.
UGH, I loathe the phrase "swoonworthy perfection." This isn't the 19th century, people, and most young women in the 21st century have no idea what a swoon even is! Plus, Teo is, as are most men/boys in romances these days, a complete and utter sexist jerk, not at all worthy of an actual swoon. Why? Why can't he accept that a young woman in STEM needs allies and not cruel and mean treatment, along with ignoring Bel's talents that are a huge asset to the team. Even the engineering teacher is a misogynist who sucks up to Teo because he's handsome and wealthy. GROSS. What a pedophilic asshat! He made a weak, half-assed apology to Bel in the end, but its worthless unless he's dismissed from the classroom for favoring male students (especially Teo) over anyone else. And justice is never served to him, which is wrong. Bel should have showed up at the school board with names, dates and a paper trail proving that this teacher was an idiot and a biased creep. Infuriating! Still the prose with clean and crisp, and the plot rumbled along like a well-oiled battle bot. I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to any young woman leaning toward a male-dominated STEM field, who wants to be inspired by a young woman who persists! Never say die, ladies!
No comments:
Post a Comment