strange and random happenstance

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

Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: April 30th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"E.C.R. Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humor and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers, who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a male author.

Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. After he was reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, crime and murder are afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared.

Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim.

With copies of the first and only edition incredibly rare today, Death of an Author returns to print for the first time since 1935. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar Award-winning author Martin Edwards."

A rediscovered wry classic!

Death of a Master Chef by Jean-Luc Bannalec
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jean-Luc Bannalec's internationally bestselling series starring Commissaire Georges Dupin returns with Death of a Master Chef.

Commissaire Georges Dupin is certain these first beautiful summer days in June would be perfect for a fun trip to Saint-Malo. In a region known as the culinary heart of Brittany, the paradoxical city is known for being a uniquely Breton, yet un-Breton, place. Their cuisine's moto is voyages et aventures. Travel and adventure. Dupin would love to explore the internationally renowned cuisine one bite at a time. But to his chagrin, Dupin is there instead to attend a police seminar dedicated to closer collaboration between the Breton départements.

To prepare himself for what's to come while in Saint-Malo, Dupin wanders through the halls of a local market - stopping to sample its wares as he goes - while admiring its aromatic orchestra. But Dupin's morning is derailed when there's a murder at a nearby stall. He quickly realizes this case is unlike any he's worked on before. The police know the victim: Blanche Trouin, a grand chef of the region. They know the perpetrator: Lucille Trouin, Blanche's sister and fellow successful chef in the area. The two had a well-known and public feud. After a bit of searching, Lucille is even in custody. The only thing they're missing is the motive. And Lucille refuses to talk.

Saint-Malo doesn't want any help from the visiting commissaires. Even Dupin's assistant, Nolwenn, is telling him to stay out of it. But Dupin, along with a few of his Breton colleagues, can't help but begin an investigation into why a chef killed her sister in the middle of a crowded market."

Ah but do you need motive where there is animosity? 

Magic and Miracles by Sally Britton, Sarah M. Eden, Jo Perry, Clarissa Kae, Adam Berg, Julie Wright, Mindy Strunk, Rebecca Connolly, Serene Heiner, Traci Abramson, Nancy Campbell Allen, Krista Jensen, and Charlie N. Holmberg
Published by: Carpe Vitam Press
Publication Date: April 30th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A few of the stories include...

Regency Fairy Retelling.

Greek Mythology Retelling.

Magical suspense."

I mean, there's not really much to go on here, other than yeah for Regency Fairy Retellings and Charlie N. Holmberg...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthology, Breton, Charity, Charlie N. Holmberg, Death of a Master Chef, Death of an Author, E.C.R. Lorac, France, Jean-Luc Bannalec, Magic and Miracles, Nancy Campbell Allen, Regency Magic, Sarah M. Eden

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: March 1st, 2019
Format: Kindle, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Joanna Teale is alive because her mother is dead. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer too late. But it wasn't too late for Jo. After a radical double mastectomy Jo wants her life to get back to some semblance of normality. Cancer put her life on hold so she's trying to get back to that life. And that life means grad school. Therefore she is burying herself in her graduate work in the wilds of southern Illinois studying birds. She has her routine. It's solitary but restorative to work from dawn until dusk until all you can do is collapse into bed. Or drink a nice cold beer in the backyard of her white clapboard student housing before collapsing into bed, banging on the window AC to show a little life. But her life is about to change radically once again. A young shoeless girl appears battered and bruised outside her house. The girl claims to be an alien child named Ursa, sent from the stars to witness five miracles. Obviously the kid is running away from something and has created this mythology to cope. But the more time Jo spends with Ursa the more she questions what is possible. She can't do this on her own, and there's something about the police that she just doesn't trust, so she turns to her neighbor Gabe. He runs the roadside stand selling eggs while coming to terms with his own existential problems. Gabe agrees that Ursa is special. Maybe she is some sort of extraterrestrial. They can't deny that Ursa brings a strange sort of luck with her wherever she goes. As the three unlikely souls form a ragtag family time passes and Jo realizes that it will be harder and harder to explain to the authorities why she has kept someone else's child for an entire summer. But when Ursa's real life finally catches up to her and shows Jo and Gabe the dark underbelly of human existence they will do anything to save this little girl. It might just take a miracle, but as humans who are they to judge what an alien would view as a miracle?

You know the phenomenon of the last great book you read? Where it was so amazing and transformative that anything that came after would pale in comparison Well, I had the exact opposite experience with this book. I was suffering from last shit book I read. The book I had read previously was possibly the worst book I have ever read. It was Devil House by John Darnielle if you're interested. So anything would have been better than Devil House. Anything at all. While my friends were lamenting that this book used the alien angle as a kind of bait and switch all I could say was at least there wasn't fake ye olde english. So what if this is Northern Exposure meets Law and Order: Special Victims Unit verging towards the almost completely unrealistic? It wasn't Devil House. Where the Forest Meets the Stars is competently written if completely quixotic. But for me it was a place I could escape into. I felt just like Jo, I needed a reprieve from reality, I needed to swim in the rivers, I needed to bath in the forests, I needed to purge the stank of Devil House from my being and Where the Forest Meets the Stars did that for me. But it was Jo's graduate work that intrigued me the most. Glendy Vanderah was a field biologist who got her MS in the Cerulean Warbler so the insight she brought to the character of Jo made her research spot on. And the reason I connected so strongly to this is because of one of my best friends. She's now a Biometrician for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but every summer for more years than I can count I remember her going out into the field somewhere to do research. She'd be in Ohio in prime Mothman country studying riparian zones or just slightly north of home looking into the impact of windmills on birds. Actually I think she didn't actually get the windmill summer job, but I remember proofing her resume. As well as her paper on riparian zones. What Glendy Vanderah gave me was a glimpse into my best friend's life for all those summers she was away from me and for that I am grateful. I can see her and Jo hanging out a sharing a beer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aliens, Birds, Breast Cancer, Devil House, For the Love of Book Clubs, Glendy Vanderah, Illinois, Joanna Teale, John Darnielle, Law and Order SVU, Northern Exposure, Summer, Ursa, Where the Forest Meets the Stars

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 4th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Ryland Grace is on a suicide mission. He has been sent to the far reaches of space to find a solution to the Petrova Problem, a single-celled extraterrestrial life form named Astrophage that is feeding off the sun. The Astrophage is killing the sun and that will result in the death of all life on Earth. The Earth's only hope is the distant star Tau Ceti. Despite living amongst a cluster of infected stars it somehow is unaffected by the Astrophage. If Ryland can find out why Tau Ceti is unaffected then perhaps there is a hope for Earth. He and two other scientists have been sent on this one way mission and are Earth's only hope, they are a Hail Mary. The problem is when he awakes from the voyage he is suffering from amnesia and his two crewmates are dead, nothing but desiccated husks. He has no idea who he is, where he is, or what he's supposed to be doing. His memory slowly starts to return but he can't quite reconcile that he somehow went from being a teacher to being an astronaut who still doesn't remember his own name. Before Ryland became a teacher he wrote a research paper about extraterrestrial life that could exist without water. He was laughed out of academia and yet that is exactly what Astrophage is. Before he knows what's happening he's one of the top people in the Petrova Taskforce. And yet this remembered information isn't going to help him when his ship is barreling towards an unknown sun. He is barely able to keep himself alive so how is he supposed to save humanity? The plus side, he's remembered his name. And he might have just discovered intelligent alien life! Because there's another ship out there. Another ship with only one survivor. Another ship that was sent to save it's planet because it too is at the mercy of Astropphage. Maybe together they can save two worlds and make their deaths mean something?

Aside from the amnesia, this has a fairly similar setup to The Martian; man, alone, stuck in space with no way home. So I figured it would go along similar lines. Man would, through his ingenuity, find out how to survive his situation. There might be potatoes. And then it didn't because aliens. That's right folks, Andy Weir wrote about freakin' aliens and I loved it! Yes, he occasionally falls into the trap of being almost too technical with his science, which he somehow avoided in The Martian, and here I would zone out for a minute or two, but then Rocky. Every flaw this book has, and there aren't many, are solved by, but then Rocky. I don't know if I've ever felt such genuine love for a character in my entire life. I realize that some people actually love E.T. for inexplicable reasons, but if they felt for that extraterrestrial what I feel for Rocky, I can kind of understand. I mean just the feeling, in no way can I understand you and your unholy love of that Spielberg monstrosity. My love for Rocky was pure, I wanted to take care of him and make sure nothing bad ever happened to him. Rocky has this childlike wonder, this enthusiasm for life, an insatiable yearning to understand. He balances the more dour and pragmatic Ryland and spurs him on. The two of them become a dynamic duo. They show that problem solving works so much better with two than one. I honestly don't know what this book would have been without Rocky. He is so integral to everything. Not just the plot, but the whole feeling of the book. Oddly enough I think this book hits even stronger because it was released during the Pandemic. Earth is fucked and somewhere, out there, is a friend who can help. Someone who completes you. Someone you never expected. Rocky's optimism and ingenuity is the can-do attitude that every single one of us needed mainlined into out veins after such a long struggle. We all needed Rocky and thank the powers that be that Andy Weir gave him to us.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Amnesia, Andy Weir, Apocalypse, Astrophage, E.T., Extraterrestrial, For the Love of Book Clubs, Outer Space, Petrova Problem, Project Hail Mary, Rocky, Ryland Grace, Steven Spielberg, Tau Ceti, The Martian