strange and random happenstance

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn't believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.

Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who've tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.

When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn't believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can't resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home - at the risk of losing her magic and her heart."

THE book I see everyone talking about this spring.

The Blue Maiden by Anna Noyes
Published by: Grove Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of Indie Next Pick and New York Times Editors' Choice Goodnight, Beautiful Women comes a transportive and chilling debut novel of two sisters growing up on an isolated Northern European island in the shadow of their late mother and the Devil.

It's 1825, four generations after Berggrund Island's women stood accused of witchcraft under the eye of their priest, now long dead. In his place is Pastor Silas, a widower with two wild young daughters, Beata and Ulrika. The sisters are outcasts: imaginative, oppositional, increasingly obsessed with the lore and legend of the island's dark past and their absent mother, whom their father refuses to speak of.

As the girls come of age, and the strictures of the community shift but never wane, their rebellions twist and sharpen. Ever capable Ulrika shoulders the burden of keeping house, while Bea, alone with unsettling visions and impulses, hungers for companionship and attention. When an enigmatic outsider arrives at their door, his presence threatens their family bond and unearths - piece by piece - a buried history to shocking ends. All the while Berggrund's neighboring island The Blue Maiden beckons, storied home of the Witches' Sabbath and Satan's realm, its misted shore veiling truths the sisters have spent their lives searching for.

A Nordic Gothic laced with the horrors of life in a patriarchy both hostile to and reliant on its women, The Blue Maiden is a starkly beautiful depiction of lost lineage and resilience."

Nordic Gothic, yes please!

Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black
Published by: Hodderscape
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Til Death Do Us Bard is a charming queer fantasy, perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes and Nettle and Bone.

Marriage isn't always sunshine and unicorns...sometimes it's monsters and necromancy.

It's been almost a year since Logan 'The Bear' Theaker hung up his axe and settled down with his sunshiny bard husband, Pie. But when Pie disappears, Logan is forced back into a world he thought he'd left behind.

Logan quickly discovers that Pie has been blackmailed into stealing a powerful artifact capable of creating an undead army. With the help of an old adversary and a ghost from his past, Logan sets out to rescue his husband.

But the further the quest takes him, the more secrets Logan uncovers. He'll need all his strength to rescue his husband - but can he save their marriage?"

I like to think that the surprise hit that is Legends and Lattes didn't spawn all these imitators but that all these books were out there waiting for an audience so that the authors could finally tell their tales that had been brewing in them for years.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
Published by: S and s/Saga Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Unicorn comes a new novel with equal amounts of power and whimsy in which a loveable cast of characters trapped within their roles of dragon hunter, princess, and more must come together to take their fates into their own hands.

Dragons are common in the backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad's job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart in part because he likes dragons, feeling a kinship with them, but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a prince's valet. Needless to say, fate has something rather different in mind..."

I mean, I just want to read the story for Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax, AKA Robert!

The Wolf's Eye by Luanne G. Smith
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Under the full moon of World War I, a baleful curse threatens to tear apart a witch's found family in a novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.

Petra Kurková - a witch who wields magic worth its weight in gold - is tasked with combating the undead on World War I's eastern front. The battlefield has yielded a newfound closeness for her spellbound team, especially for Josef Svoboda, a recruiter for the Order of the Seven Stars. But Josef was bitten at the start of the war, leaving his blood tainted by a strain of the vlkodlak curse, which makes him a target of the Order's latest mission: slay the werewolves prowling the eastern front under the moonlight.

Petra refuses to give up on one of their own. From the hasty kill order of a clandestine society to the long-lost spells in an old grimoire to the unraveling mysteries of Petra's own past, the urgency to save Josef grows, particularly as his feral impulses become harder to control. The werewolves are closing in. So, too, are the bounty hunters eager to collect. As Petra's team finds itself at a magical crossroads, Josef devises an ambush of his own - one that could wipe out the cursed threat forever or endanger everything and everyone he loves."

Usually I avoid WWI and II, but there's something about adding in the supernatural that makes me drawn to it like a werewolf to a very juicy rabbit.

Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese
Published by: Henry Holt and Company
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Get ready to solve the mystery at the heart of this captivating new middle grade adventure about family - and a house with a mind of its own - from the award-winning author of Game of Fox and Squirrels and Every Bird a Prince, Jenn Reese.

Twelve-year-old Perigee has never met a problem they couldn't solve. So when their Dad's spirits need raising, Perigee formulates the Plan: a road trip to Dad's childhood home to reunite him with his estranged mother.

There's something in it for Perigee, too, as they will finally get to visit "Eklunds' Puzzle House," the mysterious bed and breakfast their grandparents built but never opened.

They arrive ahead of a massive storm and the House immediately puts Perigee's logical, science-loving mind to the test. Corridors shift. Strange paintings lurk in the shadows. Encoded messages abound. Despite Perigee's best efforts, neither the House nor Grandma will give up their secrets. And worse, prickly Grandma has outlawed games and riddles of any kind.

Even the greatest of plans can crumble, and as new arguments fill the air, the House becomes truly dangerous. Deadly puzzles pop up at every turn, knives spin in the hallways, and staircases disappear. The answer lies at the heart of the House, but in order to find it, Perigee and their new friend Lily will need to solve a long-lost, decades-old riddle... if the House itself doesn't stop them first."

I mean, come on! Stuck in a house during a storm and then the house tries to kill you? My dream read!

Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author's prickly son...until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.

Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha's Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan's novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.

Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series - after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer's block - is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn't have to deal with Siobhan's son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan's bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn't want Em around.

Emily persists, and spending her days bantering with the annoyingly handsome mercurial Irishman only makes her fall more deeply in love with the new life she's built - and for the man who seems to soften toward her with every quip she throws at him. But when she discovers the reason for Kieran's initial resistance, Em finds herself torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her now undeniable feelings for Kier. As Siobhan's novel progresses, Emily will have to decide if she's truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter."

There's two ways it can go when helping a famous author, murder or romance. This is definitely romance.

The Stellar Debut of Galactica Macfee by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest installment in the warm and welcoming 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents of Scotland's most celebrated address navigating their enchanting and eventful lives.

Angus Lordie is approached in the park by a shadowy, Deep Throat-like figure with government secrets to share, who mistakes him for a journalist. Now Angus is privy to some controversial plans of the Scottish Parliament - but just what is he meant to do about it? Elsewhere, Big Lou's husband Bob hires a personal trainer who changes his entire outlook on life, much to Lou's dismay. At the schoolhouse, young Bertie Pollock's class has a new ringleader, Galactica MacFee, who quickly comes between Bertie and Olive. All this proves too much for Bertie to bear, and he flees to Glasgow with best friend Ranald Braveheart MacPherson in tow. And the indomitable Irene again finds herself in Edinburgh...and it looks like there might be romance in the air.

Meanwhile, Matthew, too, is keeping busy. He invests in a brand new Pictish Experience Centre, meant to allow residents to experience what life was like for Scotland's mysterious early people, the Picts. And they may have made a fantastic discovery - the earliest known work of Scottish literature! But what exactly do those mysterious Pictish runes say? As always, McCall Smith draws on his seemingly unlimited stores of goodwill and generosity in describing the goings-on of this beloved cast of characters."

This was my mom's favorite. What does it say that all her favorite series were Scottish?

Wives Like Us by Plum Sykes
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Take a grand English country house, one (heartbroken) American divorcee, three rich wives, two tycoons, a pair of miniature sausage dogs and one (bereaved) butler; put them all into the blender and out comes the impossibly funny Wives Like Us, the new novel from the best-selling author of Bergdorf Blondes and Party Girls Die In Pearls, Plum Sykes.

If you think the English countryside is all green wellies, muddy Land Rovers and grey-haired ladies in tweed, then you've never visited 'The Bottoms.'

Welcome to the rose-strewn county of Oxfordshire, and the tony Cotswold villages of Little Bottom, Middle Bottom, Great Bottom, and Monkton Bottom, recently annexed by a glittering new breed of female: the Country Princess.

Following a ghastly row about a missing suite of diamonds, Tata Hawkins has flounced out of Monkton Bottom Manor with her daughter, Minty, and Executive Butler Ian Palmer in tow, decamping to The Old Coach House to teach her husband Bryan a lesson.

But things don't go to plan: Bryan disappears to Venice with a bikini designer; Selby Fairfax, the glamorous American divorcée who has inherited the beautiful estate next door, is refusing Tata's overtures at friendship; Tata's best friends, Sophie Thompson and Fernanda Ovington-Williams, are distracted by their own heartache, and the posh Pennybacker-Hoare sisters are plotting to prevent Tata regaining her crown as Queen of the Bottoms. Worst of all, Ian has nowhere to store his collection of vintage Gucci loafers.

Will Tata ever return to the comforts of the Manor? Will Selby find her Prince Charming? Will the Pennybacker-Hoares prevail? With the help of a pig farmer-ess moonlighting as a Personal Assistant, a male model moonlighting as a stable hand and a London barrister moonlighting as a gentleman farmer, can Ian restore harmony to The Bottoms?"

A very Tottering by Gently vibe.

The Thunder of Stones by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 284 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Athens. A city where the ancient past and present tangle in a web of intrigue. As Saybrook and Arianna seek to unravel the truth about her brother's disappearance while on a clandestine mission for the Crown, they find themselves threatened by shadowy enemies - and a mysterious ancient talisman...

The winds of change have brought great joy to Lady Arianna and Saybrook, who have recently welcomed an infant son to their family. They are still adjusting to their new life when a letter arrives from Arianna's dearest friend and former comrade-in-chicanery inviting them to a gala 50th birthday celebration in Switzerland. With the blessing of their surgeon friend, they decide to make the trip, only to find themselves once again drawn into a dangerous web of political intrigue that may ignite war throughout Europe.

However, once in Geneva, Arianna and Saybrook learn that her half-brother is missing and feared dead while on a clandestine government mission to Greece, where revolutionary fervor - stirred by outcries from the infamous poet Lord Byron over Lord Elgin's "Marbles" and whether he is guilty of cultural looting - is rising against the rule of the Ottoman Empire. What to do? They are saved from having to make an agonizing choice when their friends offer to care for their son while they undertake the perilous journey to learn the truth...

But Truth proves dauntingly difficult to unravel. Unknown forces appear intent on sparking mayhem and the list of possible villains keeps growing - a traitor within the British consulate or local Turkish government; a woman claiming to be a reincarnation of the Oracle of Delphi; thieves who may be illegally selling antiquities...Nothing is as it seems, leaving Arianna and Saybrook uncertain of whom to trust as they seek to help the British government prevent war from breaking out in the region. And when explosives go missing from the armory atop the Acropolis, they are in a race against time, with their lives hanging in the balance..."

Sigh. I've been waiting for this book for eons! OK, two years, but it felt like eons! In fact typing this is the first time I've read the blurb, I preordered without reading it!

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A deliciously haunting debut for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Penner set in 19th-century Paris, blending Gothic mystery with a captivating sapphic romance as two estranged sisters - celebrated (and fraudulent) spirit mediums - come back together for one last con.

Paris, 1866. When Baroness Sylvie Devereux receives a house call from Charlotte Mothe, the sister she disowned, she fears her shady past as a spirit medium has caught up with her. But with their father ill and Charlotte unable to pay his bills, Sylvie is persuaded into one last con.

Their marks are the de Jacquinots: dysfunctional aristocrats who believe they are haunted by their great aunt, brutally murdered during the French Revolution.

The scheme underway, the sisters deploy every trick to terrify the family out of their gold. But when inexplicable horrors start to happen to them too, the duo question whether they really are at the mercy of a vengeful spirit. And what other deep, dark secrets may come to light?"

Fake mediums dealing with a real haunting? Oh, my, yes.

Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The fourth instalment in Ashley Weaver's delightful series, Locked in Pursuit follows safecracker Electra McDonnell fighting Nazis at every turn as World War II looms over London.

Safecracker Ellie McDonnell hasn't seen Major Ramsey - her handsome but aloof handler in the British government - since their tumultuous mission together three months before, but when she hears about a suspicious robbery in London she feels compelled to contact him. Together they discover that a rash of burglaries leads back to a hotbed of spies in the neutral city Lisbon, Portugal, and an unknown object brought to London by a mysterious courier.

As the thieves become more desperate and their crimes escalate, it becomes imperative that Ellie and Ramsey must beat them at their own game. Fighting shadowy assailants, enemy agents, and the mutual attraction they've agreed not to acknowledge, Ellie and Ramsey work together to learn if it truly takes a thief to catch a thief."

Yes, because it always works when you agree to not acknowledge chemistry...

She Left by Stacie Grey
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twenty years ago, she survived. This time she may not be so lucky.

On the night that changed everything, Amy Brewer walked out of a house party, trudging angrily away from the friends who made her feel like she didn't belong. Within the next hour, all five of those friends would be dead.

The Memorial Day Massacre, as it came to be called, rocked their small California community and Amy - the girl who had walked away just in time - couldn't escape the media circus...or the guilt.

Twenty years later, ten people with connections to the crime have been invited to a remote cliffside house by a journalist looking to do a story on the murders. But the group quickly learns the event is not what it seems. As a storm closes in and guests begin to die, Amy realizes there is someone in the house who knows more than they admit about what happened that night long ago... and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets."

Murder reunion! The only kind of reunion I'm all for!

Man's Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A failed actress must decide how much she will give up - and what lies she will overlook - in order to live a life of luxury, in this irresistibly suspenseful and slightly surreal debut that is The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Nightbitch.

Ever since her year as a scholarship student among the ultra-wealthy at a Manhattan private school, El knows what it is like to feel rich - to feel chosen. And being not chosen is her current living nightmare: at age thirty, she has given up her dream of becoming a famous actress, she has no passions, no great love, nothing to look forward to.

Then El meets a mysterious trust-fund Cambridge grad who holds the keys to the world she has long dreamed of. Bryce may not be particularly good-looking, charming, or interesting, but he has chosen her. El allows herself to be lulled by the ease and safety that his wealth provides, becoming Bryce's little pet, and giving up her job, friends, and apartment in short order. But when a series of disturbing and slightly surreal events reveal that Bryce is not quite what he seems, but something entirely more sinister, El must face the consequences when his darkness - and her own - are unleashed."

Always question those who you give up everything for...

The Hunter's Daughter by Nicola Solvinic
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.

Anna Koray escaped her father's darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She's now a decorated sheriff's lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father's shadow.

When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.

To Anna's horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father - and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?

But as she haunts the forest, using her father's tricks to the hunt the killer, will she find what she needs most...or lose herself in the gathering darkness?"

I love the Hannibal vibe of this. To be clear I mean the television show not the book.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth - strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries - is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who - or what - is at fault or lose everything she holds dear."

Rule number one that I adhere to, never go to an estate with a family chapel. Nothing good can come of it.

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A single mother working in the Gothic mansion of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets in the captivating new novel from the national bestselling author of Good Girls Don't Die and Horseman.

Harry Adams has always loved horror movies, so it's not a total coincidence that she took the job cleaning house for movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding graystone Chicago mansion, Bright Horses, is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes, as well as glittering awards from his career making films that thrilled audiences - until family tragedy and scandal forced him to vanish from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry has always tried to clean the house immaculately, keep her head down, and keep her job safe - she needs the money to support her son. But then she starts hearing noises from behind a locked door. Noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help, even though Javier lives alone and never has visitors. Harry knows that not asking questions is a vital part of working for Javier, but she soon finds that the sinister house may be home to secrets she can't ignore."

And what about that scandal!?!

Cloaked Deception by Timothy Zahn
Published by: Aethon Books, LLC
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 546 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Timothy Zahn, Hugo Award winner and # New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, comes this pulse-pounding political thriller.

A tactical nuclear weapon is stolen from an Indian research facility, setting off a chain of events that spans the globe.

Those behind the heist plan to use it to take out thousands of innocent people-all to assure death of a single man who they believe is too dangerous to be left alive.

What are the lives of thousands compared to the safety of the world?

At the same time, scientists have invented the world's first cloaking device, able to render its user almost completely invisible. It's the epitome of hidden-in-plain-sight-a game changer for any military. At least until three of the lead scientists are murdered and their work is stolen the night before their first demonstration.

Authorities have no idea the two crimes are connected.

There are ten days before the bomb is set to go off.

Can they unravel the trail of red herrings in time?

The clock is ticking..."

FYI this is a reprint of Cloak. But admit it, you actually don't care. You want the pretty new copy.

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 14th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

Pain is Dymitr's calling. His family is one in a long line of hunters who sacrifice their souls to slay monsters. Now he's tasked with a deadly mission: find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. To reach her, Dymitr must ally with the ones he's sworn to kill.

Pain is Ala's inheritance. A fear-eating zmora with little left to lose, Ala awaits death from the curse she carries. When Dymitr offers her a cure in exchange for her help, she has no choice but to agree.

Together they must fight against time and the wrath of the Chicago underworld. But Dymitr's secrets - and his true motives - may be the thing that actually destroys them."

Look. At. That. Cover. Seriously. Look. At. It. It's divine.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alana B. Lytle, Alexander McCall Smith, Andrea Penrose, Ashley Weaver, Christina Henry, Johanna Van Veen, Nicola Solvinic, Peter S. Beagle, Plum Sykes, Stacie Grey, Sydney J. Shields, Timothy Zahn, Veronica Roth

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Published by: Gallery / Saga Press
Publication Date: October 13th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

A time of celebration and renewal will be upended by a rare solar eclipse. The Sun Priest, Naranpa, is preparing for the convergence and the unbalancing of the world little knowing that she herself is about to fall because of what has been set in motion. A Teek woman, Xiala, has a rare gift that makes her an asset to any seafaring voyage. Which means, if someone wants to get some "special" cargo transported and it's vital it arrives on time, she's the person you hire. The only problem is she's currently in prison. Which is easily remedied if you have the right connections. She doesn't, her boss does. The cargo turns out to be human. Serapio is, unsettling, to say the least. A decade earlier his mother had him look at the eclipse to blind him and then sewed his eyes shut because she was convinced that he is going to be the crow god. She ended the mutilation by killing herself. Xiala herself has trauma and secrets and this brings the two outcasts together. Because while the story makes Xiala understand Serapio she's not quite sure if she believes in his godhood. Though obviously others do. Why else would she have been sprung from prison to take Serapio to Tova? Though the journey to Tova will not be easy. The crew distrust the duo who become closer and closer because of their outsider status. The weather turns and it's not just their deadline at risk, it's their very lives. Which is what Naranpa is also dealing with. Her life is being constantly threatened. What's more, the matron of the Carrion Crow clan has died and her son Okoa is now in charge. Thankfully he views, initially, that he can work with Naranpa. But as her position and her life encounter further threats, she might not be around much longer. She makes her move. As everyone else does. While the conjunction is happening in the heavens a conjunction is about to happen in Tova. The celebrants for the winter solstice have arrived, the clans are going to clash, and as for the priests? Who knows their motives. Or those of Serapio. A reckoning has come to Tova and not all will survive.

Black Sun is an odd reading experience. While the blurb claims it's crafted "with unforgettable characters" I don't know if I've ever read a more forgettable book. When I actually held the book in my hands and was actively reading it I enjoyed it. It was competently written and for a short while it took me to another place. But the second I set it down I would completely forget about it. The book wasn't even on my radar. I'd try to recall what I was reading for book club and look at my nightstand and there Black Sun would be sitting and that was the exact second I remembered that I should be reading it. I'd pick it back up, I'd enjoy it, I'd put it down again, and forget all about it. This happened again and again. And the only thing I can really think of is that without stakes or original worldbuilding this book just was. It exists and some people might connect to it. I'm willing to give it another go, but what if I already have and have forgotten all about it again? All these reviewers are touting the fact that this isn't your average historical fantasy. The worldbuilding is non-European, which, really, it's about time right? The Americas have such a rich historical background and yet time and time again historical fantasy is about the white colonizer who came in and destroyed these cultures. And while Rebecca Roanhorse does use non-European characters and myths they are nothing more than a veneer. Strip this book down and it's nothing more than a lackluster Games of Thrones. So in other words, Game of Thrones. She uses the same tropes and the same story setups. I wanted originality, and I got more of the same. Which, I guess would appeal to a larger market. Look, it's just what you love but with a veneer of pre-Colombian culture! Pick it up today! And no worries, you don't need to know what pre-Colombian is, you don't need to know about the Maya or the Inca, because it all just merges together with historical fantasy tropes of yore and you'll be back on familiar ground. Now, in fairness, I haven't read the next two books in her Between Earth and Sky series, so she might fix her worldbuilding issues, but, like I've said before about Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone, it's a start. It might not be perfect, but someone has to be the canary in the coal mine and get readers to see there are other cultures out there. Here's hoping it opens up a floodgate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Between Earth and Sky, Black Sun, Children of Blood and Bone, Crow God, For the Love of Book Clubs, Game of Thrones, Inca, Maya, Naranpa, Non-European, Rebecca Roanhorse, Serapio, Teek, Tomi Adeyemi, Xiala

Jim Henson by Brian Jay Jones
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013
Format: Kindle, 608 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Jim Henson was destined for greatness from the very beginning. When his parents bought a television set he was enraptured by the possibilities, and formed a strong affinity to Edgar Bergen, who would one day appear on The Muppet Show, as would his daughter Candice. Before he was even out of high school he was working as a puppeteer on morning shows. But it was during his freshman year at the University of Maryland, College Park, that his big break came with the creation of Sam and Friends with Jane Nebel, who would later become his wife. The show didn't just bring him to the attention of advertisers and television shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, it also brought about his most famous creation, Kermit the Frog. Those early years were about muppets killing each other in hilarious methods, from explosions to mastication, and also dancing and singing to popular songs. It was simple, but it was unique. The way Jim viewed the camera as the proscenium made it possible to expand the traditional framing device of puppetry. They were interactive, they were characters, they were people in their own right, Rowlf playing the piano as Jimmy Dean's sidekick. But the thing about Jim Henson is he was always thinking what innovation will be next? How can we move beyond the expected? How can we bring joy and education to children? You see where he was going? He was going to Sesame Street. To this very day Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird and the lot are teaching children about kindness. Because that's what Jim brought into the world, kindness. He had an irrepressible optimism. If one innovation or idea didn't work, then the next would. He dabbled in traditional filmmaking, earning himself an Oscar nomination in the process. But for all the creations and side projects, from Saturday Night Live to Fraggles to nightclubs, he will forever be remembered for The Muppets. While the movies were designed to showcase puppet ingenuity, from bike rides to air ballons, the zany antics of Kermit and the gang really shine brightest on The Muppet Show. Jim wanted the Muppets to forever be remembered, which is why he was working with Disney when he died. He wanted Kermit to be as recognized as Mickey Mouse. Little did he know he'd already achieved that.

If there's one celebrity who was omnipresent in my childhood it was Jim Henson. I learned to speak watching Sesame Street, which initially confused my parents to no end because I was asking for water in Spanish. Gobo, Wembley, Red, Mokey, and Boober were my daily companions thanks to friends who hooked us up with HBO. When The Muppet Show went into syndication when I was in high school I would come home every day after school and watch an episode. It didn't matter how many times I'd seen it I'd still watch it. I still view The Storyteller as one of the most innovative shows ever made. And as for Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas? I literally watch it every holiday season and am beyond thrilled that we finally have the version with Kermit restored. I should also mention Labyrinth. Because I'd be remiss to mention it. I do have a poster for it currently on my bedroom wall. And yes, I am serious. The worlds that Jim Henson created I inhabited. I had dreams and nightmares from his many creations. Don't get me started on how The Christmas Toy forever traumatized me. Likewise the entirety of The NeverEnding Story. Therefore you'd think I'd be the perfect audience for this book. You'd be wrong. I don't know who this book was written for. Perhaps people who were ignorant of Jim Henson's contributions to the world? Those who knew him but didn't know him? Because this book has no depth. Brian Jay Jones was obviously hired to write a puff piece, a comprehensive chronology of Jim Henson's life that doesn't look behind the curtain. It almost felt like a PR piece; look at this great man who died too young. And he was a great man who died too young. An innovator who, in my mind, had a midas touch which turned all his projects into gold, and when he finally encountered an insurmountable problem, the merger with Disney, his body turned on him and he didn't realize he was dying until it was too late. But as for insights? As to his charisma that made him a player? Well, his womanizing is swept under the carpet. That wouldn't align with what this book is about, a fairly sanitized view of Jim Henson. Yet the true failure of this book is that Brian Jay Jones is ill-equipped to write about a visual artist. The book begins with him trying and failing to recount the famous "Kermit and Joey Say the Alphabet" piece. Why am I reading about someone writing, not very well, a famous moment when I could just watch it? In fact, that's my advice to you. Just go watch some of Jim Henson's work. He was a visual artist, all of The Muppet Show minus that episode with the actor from The Thick of It who turned out to be a sex offender is available on Disney+, so you have no excuse to not watch it. All his work can be found if you just look for it. So go look, don't read.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brian Jay Jones, Disney, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, For the Love of Book Clubs, Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog, Labyrinth, Sam and Friends, Sesame Street, The Christmas Toy, The Muppet Show, The Storyteller

The 24th Hour by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A serial killer is rampaging all over San Francisco, and someone is trying to kill the Women's Murder Club. Will Cindy, Claire, Yuki and young mother Lindsay still be standing when the clock strikes midnight?

SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas gather at one of San Francisco's finest restaurants to celebrate exciting news: Cindy is getting married.

Before they can raise their glasses, there's a disturbance in the restaurant. A woman has been assaulted.

Claire examines the victim. Lindsay makes an arrest. Yuki takes the case. Cindy covers it.

The legal strategy is complicated by gaps in the plaintiff's memory - and the shocking reason behind her ever-changing testimony.

As Yuki leads the prosecution, Lindsay chases down a high-society killer whose target practice may leave the Women's Murder Club short a bridesmaid...or two."

Always here for the Women's Murder Club. Always.

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detective Chelsey Calhoun's life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state - but Ellie's reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

It's been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun's sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she's been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey's line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won't say where she's been, or who she's protecting, and it's up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken - and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page."

I'm always here for mysterious disappearances and reappearances. 

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1860s and the other in the present day. The Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else's body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she's not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends - and feelings - in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it's not a mummy they've unwrapped, but a much more modern body."

I mean, I love this series, but I love mummy unwrappings even more. So this is win win.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Published by: Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A time travel romance, a spy thriller, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she'll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering "expats" from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible - for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a "bridge" living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as "1847" or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as "washing machines," "Spotify," and "the collapse of the British Empire." But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry's project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how - and whether she believes - what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley's answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world."

Only seven cigarettes a day? Amateur. My grandmother was three packs!

Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Soho Press
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Grey - in an Exclusive Edition for North American readers, complete with a never-before-published short story.

Welcome to Chromatacia, where life is strictly regulated by one's limited color perception. Civilization has been rebuilt after an unspoken "Something that Happened" five hundred years before. Society is now color vision-segregated, everything dictated by an individual's visual ability, and governed by the shadowy National Color in far-off Emerald City.

Twenty-year-old Eddie Russett, a Red, is about to go on trial for a murder he didn't commit, and he's pretty certain to be sent on a one-way trip to the Green Room for execution by soporific color exposure. Meanwhile, he's engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, a Green, the charismatic and unpredictable Jane Grey. Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, they search for a loophole - some truth of their world that has been hidden from its hyper-policed citizens.

New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde returns to his fan-favorite Shades of Grey series with this wildly anticipated, laugh-out-loud funny and darkly satirical adventure about two star-crossed lovers on a quest to survive - even if it means upending their entire society in the process."

This has many of the answers you have been seeking for many many long years.

Nonna Maria and the Cast of the Lost Treasure by Lorenzo Carcaterra
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As Nonna Maria's longtime pal and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino, in charge of the local carabinieri, never wanted to see harm brought to the doorstep of everyone's favorite espresso-brewing, counsel-giving amateur sleuth. But when you live a long life, you're bound to make a few enemies. And when those enemies come calling, you have to rely on friends. Faced with an assassin seeking revenge for a decades-old grudge, Captain Murino has no choice but to turn to Maria, who must use all her neighborly resources, clever faculties, and web of connections to save him from his perilous predicament.

On the other side of the island, a second mystery begins to unfold at the deathbed of another of Maria's old friends, as he hands his granddaughter a yellowed map and tells her of a treasure to be found in one of Ischia's secret caverns. However, there are traps and pitfalls. There will be others with sinister motives who will do all they can to make the treasure their own. But this map is a guide - the only gift he has to give. When the granddaughter needs help cracking the code, she turns to her grandfather's most trusted friend: Nonna Maria.

From battling foes in medieval castles to exploring the notorious caverns where smugglers hide their goods, Nonna Maria and her friends - some old, some new - embark on their most swashbuckling adventure yet."

Nonna Maria has a lot on her plate from old friends this time around.

Star Struck by Marjorie McCown
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Elle Cosimano and Kellye Garrett, in this second Hollywood mystery, film costumer Joey Jessop discovers that Hollywood buries its secrets deep when a superstar's assistant turns up dead.

Costumer Joey Jessop is working on a movie set in 1930s Hollywood and starring two of the world's biggest stars. The male lead is also a dedicated social activist, and the female lead, Gillian Best, is known for her lifestyle brand. After a hit-and-run near the set, Joey realizes that the car involved belongs to Gillian, and she begins to wonder if the actress has more to hide than her Botox appointments.

Her suspicions deepen when Gillian's personal assistant, Rita, vows to get revenge for Gillian replacing her and is found dead shortly after. Gillian quickly labels Rita's death a suicide, and the police seem to agree - but Joey isn't so sure.

With the police standing aside, it's up to Joey to dig up the truth - but Hollywood stars know how to keep their secrets close, and a woman like Gillian Best won't take kindly to someone sniffing around her affairs. Joey is certain that Gillian has something to hide - and she's determined to find out what."

I think for a movie set in the 1930s you should go method. AKA no Botox.

The Suspicions of Mr Whisker by Mandy Morton
Published by: Farrago
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are hired to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths at Mr Whisker's Academy for Wayward Cats.

Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are hired to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths at Mr Whisker's Academy for Wayward Cats. Before Tilly even opens her notebook, the hockey mistress is brutally murdered on the playing field.

Faced with an increasing body count, our feline detectives sharpen their claws and set out to catch a serial killer. Did Pomadora Moseley really murder her family on the rollercoaster at Butlins? Is Clara Toddlebury's Country Dance Class under threat? And why does Mr Whisker lock himself in his headmaster's study?

Join Hettie and Tilly as they chalk up another case, revealing a school full of scandal, a dormitory of death and the latest Butters' pie filling."

Best. Title. EVER!

Korgi: The Complete Tale by Christian Slade
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 584 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved wordless fantasy graphic novel is now collected in a single epic volume! Fall in love with the wondrous world of Korgi Hollow, packed with thrills, laughs, and exquisitely illustrated animal magic.

One of the most adorable comics of our time now arrives in a bookshelf edition for all time. When day breaks in their woodland village, Ivy and her corgi pup, Sprout, have no idea that they'll soon be swept up in an astonishing adventure! Soon they'll journey across land, sea, and air, from past to present and beyond, to learn more about themselves, escape the forces of evil, and uncover the ancient mysteries behind their magical world. The sumptuously detailed pen-and-ink drawings of former Disney animator Christian Slade make every page a joy to behold, using the power of "silent comics" to bring every moment wordlessly to life for readers of all ages. What's more, this deluxe softcover collection includes not only all five Korgi graphic novels but also every bonus short story previously exclusive to comic books. The result is a complete fantasy epic that is truly timeless."

Everyone loves corgis right?

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
Published by: David R. Godine Publisher
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Over the course of two weeks in a small English town, a reclusive widow discovers an unexpected reason to live.

Following the loss of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. She retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit: "Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle - as though even for death there is a queue." Then, one cold winter night, a chance encounter with a mouse sets Helen on a surprising journey.

Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes life has plans of its own. With profound compassion, Simon Van Booy illuminates not only a deep friendship forged between two lonely creatures, but the reverberations of goodness that ripple out from that unique bond."

Always here for life-affirming rodents!

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle returns with a standalone Gothic mystery that unfolds in the empire of Ahn.

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls.

As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Do Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight."

I mean, I love this series, but a standalone Gothic? HELL YES!

Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly comes a revolutionary, gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast that will forever change how you think about beauty, power, and what it really means to follow your heart.

What makes a girl "beastly?" Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?

That's the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can't extinguish the fire burning inside her - the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams.

When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle. As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault - after all, there's nothing more "beastly" than a girl who expresses her anger - and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who's been told she's impossible to love.

When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau - spooked by the castle's strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night - only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves."

I've been guilty of building a prison or two for myself.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jackie Lau, author of the "full of heart" (Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author) The Stand-Up Groomsman, returns with a charming rom-com about a young woman's desperate attempts to fend off her meddling mother...only to find that maybe mother does know best.

Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents' friends. You'd think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he's just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they're forced together at Emily's sister's wedding, it's obvious he thinks he's too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family's last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There's only one solution, clearly: convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom's meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn't enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates - including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class - so they'll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark's not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn't so ugly after all..."

Never judge a guy by his sweater.

Shanghailanders by Juli Min
Published by: Spiegel and Grau
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling and ambitious debut novel that follows a cosmopolitan Shanghai household backward in time - beginning in 2040 and moving through our present and the recent past - exploring their secrets, their losses, and the ways a family makes and remakes itself across the years.

2040: Wealthy real estate investor Leo Yang - handsome, distinguished, a real Shanghai man - is on the train back to the city after seeing his family off at the airport. His sophisticated Japanese-French wife, Eko, and their two eldest children, Yumi and Yoko, are headed for Boston, though one daughter's revelation will soon reroute them to Paris. 2039: Kiko, their youngest daughter and an aspiring actress, decides to pursue fame at any cost, like her icon Marilyn Monroe. 2038: Yumi comes to Yoko in need, after a college-dorm situation at Harvard goes disastrously wrong.

As the years rewind to 2014, Shanghailanders brings readers into the shared and separate lives of the Yang family parent by parent, daughter by daughter, and through the eyes of the people in their orbit - a nanny from the provinces, a private driver with a penchant for danger, and a grandmother whose memories of the past echo the present. We glimpse a future where the city's waters rise and the specter of apocalypse is never far off. But in Juli Min's hands, we also see that whatever may change, universal constants remain: love is complex, life is not fair, and family will always be stubbornly connected by blood, secrets, and longing.

Brilliantly constructed and achingly resonant, Shanghailanders is an unforgettable exploration of marriage, relationships, and the layered experience of time."

I love books that explore time differently.

You Never Know by Tom Selleck
Published by: Dey Street Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There are many miles from the business school and basketball court at the University of Southern California to 50 million viewers for the final episode of a TV show called Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck has lived every one of those miles in his own iconoclastic and joyful way.

Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the highly personal story of a remarkable life and thoroughly accidental career. In his own voice and uniquely unpretentious style, the famed actor brings readers on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes and, over time, his well-earned success. Along the way, he clears up an armload of misconceptions and shares dozens of never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life. His rambunctious California childhood. His clueless arrival as a good-looking college jock in Hollywood (from the Dating Game to the Fox New Talent Program to co-starring with Mae West and escorting her to black-tie social functions). What it was like to emerge as a mega-star in his mid-thirties and remain so for decades to come, an actor whose authenticity and ease in front of the camera connected with audiences worldwide while embodying and also redefining the clichés of onscreen manhood.

In You Never Know, Selleck recounts his personal friendships with a vivid army of A-listers, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Carol Burnett to Sam Elliott, paying special tribute to his mentor James Garner of The Rockford Files, who believed, like Selleck, that TV protagonists are far more interesting when they have rough edges. He also more than tips his hat to the American western and the scruffy band of actors, directors and other ruffians who helped define that classic genre, where Selleck has repeatedly found a happy home. Magnum fans will be fascinated to learn how Selleck put his career on the line to make Thomas Magnum a more imperfect hero and explains why he walked away from a show that could easily have gone on for years longer.

Hollywood is never easy, even for stars who make it look that way. In You Never Know, Selleck explains how he's struggled to balance his personal and professional lives, frequently adjusting his career to protect his family's privacy and normalcy. His journey offers a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world. Beneath all the charm and talent and self-deprecating humor, Selleck's memoir reveals an American icon who has reached remarkable heights by always insisting on being himself."

Does he talk about his moustache? Because if he doesn't what's the point of this book?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Christian Slade, Corgis, Emiko Jean, Jackie Lau, James Patterson, Jennifer Donnelly, Kaliane Bradley, Kelley Armstrong, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Mandy Morton, Marjorie McCown, Nghi Vo, Simon Van Booy, Tom Selleck

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: August 13th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

The death of her cat was the last straw. Nora's life is a dumpster fire. No one needs her. No one wants her. She's been fired from the music store she worked at and her only piano student has quit. And then her cat died. There's nothing for her in this world so she decides to leave it behind. Only instead of dying she ends up in a library. There her old librarian, Mrs. Elm, tells her that she still has a chance. Between life and death there is the library. You can read The Book of Regrets and then choose another life. Take down a book from the shelves and live the life that could have been had one thing been different. But she must be careful, if she experiences disappointment the new life will reject her and send her back to the library. Nora doesn't want to play this game of what ifs, she just wants to die. First she chooses to not jilt her fiance, and she learns that perhaps she was never meant to marry him in the first place. Then more disappointment happens when she tries to save her cat. It was the cat's time, so her regret is erased but the pain of loss is not. It dawns on her, could she really spend this time suspended between life and death righting the wrongs of her life? But everything good that could have happened had negative consequences, fame led to the death of those she loved, and happiness seems elusive. She encounters another soul searching for his bliss. Although he encourages her to try as many lives as possible. Not to pick one right away and stick with it. Don't craft her happily ever after, go on a journey of self-discovery. And this is what Nora does. She experiences it all, fame, polar bears, vineyards, anything and everything she could have been is available to her but in the end it's hollow. She wants something perfect and permanent. That's how she finds the life with Ash and Molly. A devoted husband and a beautiful daughter. She becomes fiercely attached to this life but the voice in the back of her brain, the one that told her suicide was the only option, whispers to her that she didn't earn this life. And that's enough to throw her back into the library. But Nora has wasted her time as she did her life. Is it too late to go back to the beginning and try to fix it? To rewrite her ending?

If you are one of the legions of people who loved this book I'm glad for you, and glad that you support the aphorisms on wooden planks business that is booming and your psychiatrist who is buying their second vacation home thanks to you. For all of us who don't fall for gimmicks and pop psychology let me break down the ENTIRE message of this book so you don't have to waste valuable time reading it; as long as you have time and potential that's all you need. Seriously, that is the entire message of this book. I mean, it is a powerful message, it's just not one that needed hundreds of pages in which to tell it. The Midnight Library is cliched and trite and the more I think about it the more it annoys me. I don't want self-help masquerading as fiction. I know what my problems are, thank you very much, and I read to escape them, not analyze them. And I'm sorry if this offends you, but if this kind of advice was actually able to help me I'd feel pedestrian. I'm not saying my problems are more complicated or different than yours, what I'm saying is that if my psychiatrist, and yes I have a psychiatrist, spouted this hackneyed advice at me I'd fire him. Because this book just feels like a "teachable moment" and if there's anything more cringe than that saying, it's what's between the covers of this book. And that's not even getting into the structural issues I have. So you just "know" in one of Nora's lives the band she abandoned became a huge success, because of course it did, and yet you have to wait what feels like forever to get to that life. I mean, wouldn't that be like the very first alternative you you'd want to be? Also, all these other lives somehow exist and yet Matt Haig doesn't go into the details. In the life where Nora has a daughter her daughter knows it's not her mother. She's too different. Which would indicate that this version of herself exists even without her in the body. So is she quantum leaping into other hers? Because that would be kind of cool. Personally I don't think Matt Haig thought it through in this regard, mainly because it would improve the book and doesn't have an improving message. But part of me hopes that Nora is Sam Beckett and in an attempt to fix her own life destroys all the lives she leaps into. Now why couldn't an editor have given Matt Haig that note? Probably because it would only be read by a small select group of people instead of all the rubes needing affirmation that flocked to buy this book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cat, For the Love of Book Clubs, Librarian, Matt Haig, Nora Seed, Pop Psychology, Psychiatrist, Quantum Leap, Rock Star, Sam Beckett, Self Help, Soul, Suicide, The Book of Regrets, The Midnight Library

Matrix by Lauren Groff
Published by: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: September 7th, 2021
Format: Kindle, 272 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Marie's life isn't exactly blessed. A child of rape she is the half-sister of Henry II of England. When Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry it is made very clear that Marie will no longer be welcome in the French court. So she follows Eleanor to England with only her servant Cecile as company. Marie's attraction to Eleanor combined with having no marriage prospects set her fate in motion. Who would marry a gangly, unattractive, illegitimate seventeen year old with a liking for the ladies anyway? Torn away from Eleanor and Cecile she is once more moved along. This time to an abbey. She is young and the nuns are old and sick. Her first instinct is to escape. To get back to Eleanor any way she can. If she can just win Eleanor's favor everything will be well. She starts to write a series of lais. In these poems she pours out her heart. And yet Eleanor never responds. Disillusioned Marie gradually accepts her fate and then embraces it. She starts with nutrition. If the nuns can eat well they can live well. She takes stock of the skills her nuns have and some become farmers, some become healers, each to their own ability they start to shine. Marie enforces the sanctity of the abbey's lands and taxes squatters. While Eleanor installed Marie as prioress of the abbey it's by Marie's own skills that she rises to abbess. She creates a haven for her nuns. They are safe, content, and well cared for. They even have a very active sex life. The fact that in the beginning Marie didn't view herself as strongly religious doesn't matter as time goes on. Because fate has chosen her and she is touched by divine visions. These visions help to protect the community she has built. She builds herself a world apart. The patriarchy of the outside world doesn't like the wealth she is hoarding and plot against her. Some of the nuns even question her power. But when power is used to protect is it such a bad thing? Her people, her world, thrives. But what will happen when she is no longer protector? How will history view her? As salvation or Satan?

Matrix is one of those books that almost defies any reviewers attempts to review it. Lauren Groff is obviously a talented writer yet at the same time what exactly did she write here? What on Earth did I just read? I think I liked it didn't I? Wait are the nuns having "healing" sex again? Boiled down to it's basics we have a group of sexually active nuns who create a female utopia led by a visionary leader that pisses off the patriarchy. And then the leader dies. I'm trying to remember if she "saw" her death coming because that would have been kind of ironic. I know she "felt" it but "saw" it would have been more on point. My issue with Matrix was more in how it was written. Groff spent time with Benedictine nuns at the Regina Laudis Abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Being among the educated woman caring for each other she thought it kind of a utopia. Which carried through into the book. But as you see with her immersing herself in the Benedictine lifestyle she is very method. I mean she assumed that all readers would get that the title comes from the Latin for mother... I was not one of those readers. In fact until I started writing this review I had no idea how the title connected to the narrative so at least now I know that. So it's not a stretch to say that Groff really does her research. And yet the kind of faux Middle Ages first person patois she writes the story in is off-putting. I thought and still think that it was an attempt to be "of the time." She wanted us so in Marie's world, so in her head, that she created her own dialect. Which, when you're dropping modern vernacular like "rube" into the conversation takes your readers out of the narrative. I mean it would be over six hundred years until the word "rube" came about. Me being me, this then resulted in a discussion with my book club as to whether she really meant to write like she was in the Middle Ages or just in a way that would be unique. Given her whole background and her education and her going to hang out at an abbey for awhile, I think my argument holds together. She wanted her writing to feel "of the time" like Chaucer a few hundred years later. She just wasn't as thorough as she thought. She in fact might be a bit of a rube.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abbess, Abbey, Court, Eleanor of Aquitaine, For the Love of Book Clubs, Henry II, Lauren Groff, Lesbians, Matrix, Middle Ages, Nuns, Patois, Prioress, Regina Laudis Abbey, Religion, Sex, Vernacular, Visions