Single Girls Book Review, Secret Garden Book Store Opens in Parrish, Fla., Obituary for Alan Bradley, For Whom the Spell Tolls by Devon Monk, Mystic Misfortune by Cindy Stark, Death's Daughter by S.A. Barnes, First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen, Platform Decay by Martha Wells

Hey there, fellow bookish people! We're almost through May, going into the early days of June and summer season. While I'm not a huge fan of the heat of summer, the PNW where I've lived since the early 90s, doesn't get too hot until August, and we also have AC that works well to keep the house at a nice cool temp. So I can still curl up and read and not have to sweat and get sunburn outside, or open the windows to all the bugs and pollen of summer. Anyway, here are a few tidbits and 5 book reviews for you all...enjoy!

This sounds like an excellent book about the ground-breaking (and glass ceiling breaking) Helen Gurley Brown, an amazing woman whose work taught a generation of young women how to deal with the patriarchy and misogyny.  

Book Review: Single Girls

John Searles's frothy, fizzy fifth novel, Single Girls, charts the unlikely success story of self-professed "mouseburger" Helen Gurley Brown and the crackerjack team of female writers and editors she assembled to transform Cosmopolitan magazine in the mid-1960s. Searles (himself a former Cosmopolitan editor) dives into Helen's personal life, her complicated relationship with her mother and sister, and the inner lives of the half-dozen women who took a chance on Cosmopolitan--and on Helen.

Searles (Her Last Affair begins with the 1932 elevator accident that killed Helen's father, Ira). As with much of the book, the incident is true and the details around it are imagined. Searles returns repeatedly to that pivotal moment in Helen's childhood as he explores Helen's fraught bond with her sister, Mary Eloine (who eventually contracted polio), and their difficult mother, Cleo. After Ira's death, Cleo and Mary Eloine are focused on gaining stability and security, while Helen wants more from life.

Searles takes readers through Helen's early years working as a secretary and copywriter in Los Angeles, her marriage to film producer David Brown, and their move to Manhattan in the wake of her smash hit book Sex and the Single Girl. When Helen gets the chance to turn around Cosmo's fortunes, she recruits a half-dozen writers and editors, some of them unlikely: a department-store window dresser, a bartender with a secret, a typist besotted with a married man. Together, the women fill the pages of the magazine with sharp, well-written, slightly edgy stories aimed at single female readers, trying to keep the (male) higher-ups happy while pushing the envelope.

Searles gives readers a glimpse into each woman's story, exploring the writers' balancing acts as they build careers, support themselves financially, and (in some cases) try to find love. Meanwhile, each woman receives at least one magazine assignment that stretches her skills and confidence. Relationships editor Myrna takes a trip to test out the world's first champagne-glass-shaped hot tub, with surprising results, while entertainment editor Liz Smith interviews a Park Avenue call girl and makes some discoveries of her own. As Helen guides (and sometimes pushes) her team of women toward making their magazine the hottest item on newsstands, she continues to wrestle with complex feelings about her father's death.

Witty, buzzy, and full of magazine-worthy descriptions of midcentury fashion, Single Girls offers an entertaining look into the world of publishing and a tribute to the unassuming editor who revolutionized women's magazines. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

I actually remember traveling through Parrish, which is a nice area, and I'm glad to read that they have a new bookstore and plant shop.

Secret Gardens Book Store Grows in Parrish, Fla.

Secret Gardens Book Store opened in early March in Parrish, Fla., WWSB reported. The bookstore, which focuses primarily on romance, mysteries and thrillers, fantasy, and contemporary fiction, resides at 8267 U.S. Hwy. 301 N., inside of a plant shop called Fancy Leaf Plant Co.

Store owner Libby Bolles also owns the plant shop, which she opened in 2021 after launching the business as a mobile store. Bolles hosts a variety of community events, including high tea and stationery painting, bingo nights, watch parties, author signings, and book release parties.

This news gutted me, as I'm a huge fan of Flavia de Luce, who is an awesome pre-teen detective and science nerd in England during the 50s. I am glad that there will be one more book coming out about her adventures, but after that, those of us who have read the whole series will have to mourn the end of our time with the de Luce family. So sad. RIP AB.

Obituary Note: Alan Bradley

Canadian author Alan Bradley,who was best known for the Flavia de Luce mystery series featuring an 11-year-old detective, died May 19, CBC reported. He was 87. A Toronto native, Bradley was raised in Coburg, Ont., attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and worked as a TV and radio engineer before getting a position at University of Saskatchewan, where he taught for 25 years and became the director of television engineering.

Bradley retired in 1994, moved to Kelowna, B.C., with his wife, Shirley, and began writing full-time, publishing short stories for children and adults, the memoir The Shoebox Bible, and the nonfiction book Ms. Holmes of Baker Street (with William A.S. Sarjeant).

In his late 60s, "an 11-year-old girl named Flavia de Luce first appeared on the page," CBC wrote. "Precocious and smart, Flavia was a minor character in a manuscript that captivated Bradley's wife. Shirley encouraged him to develop Flavia further and she ultimately became the protagonist of the bestselling mystery series bearing her name."

In a 2013 interview on CBC's The Next Chapter, Bradley said: "I'm almost ashamed to admit that she makes me laugh out loud because I don't know what she's going to do or what she's going to say. She just does it and I laugh and jot it down.... My wife Shirley will be sitting in the next room or at the other end of the same room and she'll say, 'Flavia's just done something outrageous'.... There is a sense of wonder I can remember from being 11. You are absolutely invincible. It's that age where you think that you can build a glider out of bed sheets and jump off the castle wall and you won't get hurt. You can do anything."

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first novel in the Flavia de Luce series, was immediately successful, winning numerous honors including the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award. The 11 books in the series have sold more than six million copies and been translated into 36 languages.

In a 2024 interview on The Next Chapter, Bradley said his biggest accomplishment was the impact he had on the lives of readers who were inspired by Flavia: "I've just been absolutely flattened by letters and e-mails from girls of Flavia's age who have said that they've decided to go into science.... Now that the first book has been out for 16 years, I'm beginning to hear from girls who graduated, who are now very advanced in science. I think that's a wonderful achievement, inspiring young people to go into the sciences."

The final installment in the Flavia de Luce series, Numb Were the Beadsman's Fingers, will be published November 3, and a movie adaptation of the first book appears around the same time.

For Whom the Spell Tolls by Devon Monk is another Ordinary Oregon mystery that showcases all the god-like and magical characters (like witches) who live and work in the small seaside town of Ordinary (which is anything but). Here's the blurb: A laugh-out-loud, cozy, magic-packed whodunit by Devon Monk

Come for the readings...stay for the revenge…

Jules Larkwood, a witch looking for a little adventure, doesn’t expect her friendly bet with the town’s oldest vampire to change her life. Then a powerful enemy from her past rises from the dead, and Jules’ life becomes a little too interesting.

Now she must juggle tracking down ancient spells, thwarting secret rituals, and facing old foes, while attending her book club and keeping her crystal shop open for Ordinary’s full moon festival.

But when a woman is found dead, all bets are off. Jules and her best friends Medusa (yes, that Medusa) and a seer named Piper, are on the hunt, and running out of time to catch the murderer before the next victim falls. 

 

This is yet another superbly written and plotted book by the wonderful Devon Monk, whose work is nigh-on perfect. I've read all of her series but one, and loved them all. This cozy mystery series, though only on its second book, is a real delight full of unexpected magic and interesting insight into some of Ordinary's more unique characters, like Thanos, the God of Death who has a female child's taste in clothing and an extremely dry sense of humor. While the book is short, its very satisfying with a fun ending that leaves you wanting more. I'd give it a well deserved A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the Ordinary books...you will not be disappointed.

 

Mystic Misfortune by Cindy Stark  is a paranormal cozy mystery novel that, at least for the paperback copy that I got, is printed in large print, which is great. Unfortunately, I believe this is a self-published series, so there's the inevitable typos and grammar mistakes that you have to overlook, and the prose is simplistic, while the plot is fairly generic. Here's the blurb: When fledgling gift shop owner Kalie Kennedy gets invited to a new age festival in her picturesque red-rock hometown of Mystic, Arizona, she expects a peaceful experience and opportunities to promote her store. But the spiritual fair takes a dark turn when the infamous psychic Vespera winds up dead, and Kalie becomes entangled in the investigation.

Detective Nick Monroe is highly competent at his job, and in capturing Kalie’s interest, but when it comes to supernatural matters, he’s at a disadvantage. He seeks Kalie’s help to navigate a maze of spurned townsfolk and bitter rivals, while suspicion swirls through the tranquil community.

As romantic tensions simmer with Detective Monroe, and the mystical world collides with harsh reality, Kalie must use her unique knowledge to uncover the truth. With a blood-stained tarot card as her clue and an enigmatic gnome figurine stirring up trouble, Kalie’s journey is fraught with mystical implications and hidden dangers. Only time will tell if they’re able to uncover the veiled secrets in Vespera’s past and catch the killer before the festival ends.

Mystic Misfortune is Book Two in the charming paranormal Mystic Village Cozy Mystery series. If you like a savvy heroine, a dashing yet skeptical hero, and just the right sprinkling of magic and humor, you’ll love these stories.

 
I will admit that this was a fun and easy read that only took me an afternoon to finish. There's something to be said for books that are "palate cleansers" between more meaty reads, but what I usually go for in easy reads is something with just a bit more heft and beguiling prose. Still, I'd give this large print novel a B-, and recommend it to anyone who likes magical mysteries with silly heroines.

 

Death's Daughter by S.A. Barnes is a beautifully-designed novel with purple end papers and a beautiful cover that is bound to attract collectors and readers alike. This gothic folklore rewriting with a huge addition of romantasy has gotten a ton of accolades and great reviews, sending it to the top of the bestseller lists. It's a bit over-hyped IMO. Here's the blurb: 

The steamy mythology of Neon Gods meets the dark academia of Ninth House in this contemporary romance from bestselling author S.A. Barnes.

After a lifetime of chaos, Jocasta has finally found her home with good friends, great classes, even a messy situationship with her former TA―a normal life.

Well, as normal a life as the only child of Death can have.

She’s always refused to embrace her father’s legacy. Instead of taking lives, she feeds on her classmates’ disappointments, failures, and rejections. Finals week has her feasting, and all is good.

Until Death ruins her life. Again.

Without warning, Death names Jocasta as his sole successor, making her a powerful ally… and a massive target. Devon, a descendant of Lust, claims to want to help her―for a price.

Jo will do anything to protect the people she loves and the life she’s worked so hard for. Even if it means becoming a monster.

While I understand the popularity of "dark academia" and "romantasy" genre books, I really didn't see anything in this book that made it a stand out among its peers in those genres. The "spicy" love/sex scenes were fairly cis-het generic to nearly every romantasy I've read in the past 5-10 years or so. But all of Jo and Devon's wishy-washy yearning made me tired, in the end...just make a decision already! Either get into bed or shut up about it! Yeesh. I know a lot of people enjoy this sort of yearning, back and forth, will they or won't they thing, which I can enjoy only if its witty and well written, but I can't enjoy something that drags out the plot in such a way that it becomes dull and uninteresting. Still, having read some of the authors earlier works, this is a big leap of improvement for her, and I appreciate how hard she must have worked to get here. Therefore I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone who is into legendary tales of gods and monsters with some romance thrown in for good measure.

 

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen is a magical realism novel written in Allen's impeccable, lush prose that slides along her elegant and swift plot beautifully. Here's the blurb: Sarah Addison Allen, beloved author of Garden Spells, returns with a luminous story of the trouble with hanging on too long, and the magic that happens when you finally let go.

Autumn has finally arrived in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, heralded by a strange old man appearing with a beat-up suitcase. He has stories to tell, stories that could change the lives of the Waverley women forever.

But the Waverleys have enough trouble on their hands. Quiet Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies, but it's nothing like she thought it would be, and it's slowly taking over her life. Claire's wild sister Sydney, still trying to leave her past behind, is about to combust with her desire for another new beginning. And Sydney's fifteen-year-old daughter Bay has given her heart away to the wrong boy and can't get it back. 

Magical and atmospheric, First Frost transports readers back into the lives of the gifted Waverley women - back to their strange garden and temperamental apple tree, back to their house with a personality of its own, back to the men who love them fiercely - proving that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It's where the real story begins. 

 

Allen shares a literary heritage with Alice Hoffman of taking magical people and integrating them into our mundane human world, making their exploits fascinating to discerning readers everywhere. Here its the infamous Waverley women, all of whom make some kind of potion or baked good that is magical enough to change the lives of those consuming them. My only concern was that Bay, the youngest family member is focused completely on a teenage boy whom she discerns is her soulmate, she just has to wait for him to realize that he will fall in love with her, eventually. Which is creepy, because she stalks him throughout the book, and refuses to deal with any scenario in which the two do not end up together. Weird. But other than that, this was an un-put-downable novel that will make you think and feel differently about life and your own gifts as a person. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to everyone who enjoys magic realism done right.

 

Platform Decay by Martha Wells is the 8th book in the fantastic science fiction Murderbot Diaries, which has been made into a streaming series starring Alexander Skarsgaard (who makes a very sexy SecUnit). Here's the blurb: Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment of Martha Wells' bestselling and award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh. This may well call for... eye contact!“Murderbot’s legion of fans will be thrilled by Wells’s latest series installment, and readers who love a good, snarky internal monologue will be glad to know that Murderbot is back in fine fettle after their self-doubt in the previous book, System Collapse.” ―Library Journal

 
Murderbot, and his fixation on "quality entertainment" space opera videos, along with his intense dislike of snotty children, makes me laugh out loud and chortle with enjoyment because I know that whatever Murderbot's gotten into, he's going to get the humans out alive just fine, because he's amazing at what he does, and he protects stupid humans all the time. You can't help but cheer for him and his crew of drones and other 'freed' space machines, from cargo haulers to other Sec Units being freed from their governor modules. Other than a bit too much techno-babble, I adore Wells spare and elegant prose, and her clean and swift plots that always end exactly as you'd expect them to. I'd give this lean novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the Murderbot novels, because you won't be disappointed. Murderbot can always be relied on for a witty and wonderful reading experience.