strange and random happenstance

A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh has set sail on her first research expedition, but it's disrupted by accusations of murder when one of her fellow scientists is murdered in this daring fifth installment.

Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on the adventure of a lifetime for any scientist: a research expedition. She sails to newly formed Turkey with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bevy of fellow researchers under the watchful and reformed eye of Dr. Henry. With only two other women on board, Saffron soon finds she is right back in the same infuriatingly misogynistic environment that marked the earliest days of her career. Only this time, Saffron is determined to show everyone, including Alexander, that she can handle the trials of an expedition.

And trials she has in spades. Before the expedition team has even arrived, Saffron has managed to find an enemy in historian Joseph Clark, who frequently torments the assistant that Saffron has taken under her wing, Martin Neill. But when Martin unexpectedly dies, Saffron is targeted as the main suspect.

Falling ruins, venomous snakes, and mysteriously blocked passages are the least of Saffron's worries. With unexpected help from a familiar face, Alexander and Saffron have to work fast to prove not only that Saffron is innocent but that they both have nothing to do with a larger conspiracy at play among the expedition crew."

An expedition and murder!?! Be still my heart.

Feast by Catherine Kurtz
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In nineteenth-century France, a young woman with a magical sense of taste saves a duc from poison, and her new role as poison taster thrusts her into the world of the nobility, where secrets and danger lurk around every corner.

Minha is born on the backstreets of late nineteenth-century London, the daughter of an Indian spice merchant and an English prostitute. She has a remarkable gift: an incredible sense of taste. She can taste the earth in which potatoes were grown or the tree on which fruits have ripened. She can smell each ingredient - and identify a single false note. But Minha's gift and her mixed-race heritage provoke mistrust and rejection, even within her own family. Escaping alone to France, Minha chances upon work in the Château de Bellefalaise, where for the first time her strange abilities are lauded.

As official poison taster for Duc Nicolas, Minha must taste every morsel of food that will pass his lips. Others in the household are hostile to her, but when she discovers a man hiding in the stables, their unexpected meeting turns into the first true connection she's felt since arriving in France.

But mystery and paranoia continue to swirl around the château, with the Duc's poisoner unidentified and antagonism toward Minha growing. She knows it's only a matter of time before fingers begin pointing her way. Will she run again, or is this the time to stand and fight?

A thoroughly addictive novel about food, possession, race, love, and a young woman fighting to build a fulfilling life against all odds, this is a gorgeously written debut by author Catherine Kurtz."

I've always wondered about poison tasters. Because what if the poison is slow acting? Then everyone dies?

Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi
Published by: Hay House LLC
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Emily Wilde meets Divine Rivals in this debut cozy historical romantic fantasy about a grumpy apothecarist, the whirlwind woman who comes to save his shop, and the letters that secretly unite them. You've Got Mail with a magical twist!

Nestled between steel skyscrapers lies a small shop stocked with old magic and experimental elixirs. This cozy historical romantic fantasy debut is a tale of mistaken identity, reluctant partnership, and the quiet, transformative magic of being truly seen - on and off the page.

Josephine Pinova doesn't believe in fate. Yet, it must be fate when she walks into one of the last magical apothecaries in the city and they offer her a job after she's just been fired.

Struggling against a tide of anti-magic sentiment amidst the city's rapid industrialization, the shop is slated to close in six short months unless Josie can save it. Luckily, she's no stranger to impossible odds - she's applying to study magic at the local university, something women are typically excluded from - even as the shop's prickly apothecarist, Aufidius Reid, seems determined to dislike her.

Reid finds her unbearably insistent. She finds him infuriatingly uptight - nothing like the sensitive scholar Josie has been exchanging anonymous letters with as they study together for entrance to a graduate magic program. A scholar who just so happens to be Reid himself, unbeknownst to either of them.

Letter by letter, they fall in love. But at work, Josie and Reid clash constantly about the direction of the business. As pressure rises, they discover the threat to the shop is more dangerous than they could have ever imagined, and working together to save it might be their only chance at true purpose, and at each other."

I'd say more The Shop Around the Corner than You've Got Mail, even if one is a reimagining of the other.

The Sourdough Compendium by A.G. Slatter
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 688 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Award-winning stories from the world of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead, this is a compendium of fantastic tales from the dark gothic heart of the Sourdough universe. Witches, assassins and pirates are brought to life in immersive, sinister and magical prose.

Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden...

Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these award-winning storms form much of the foundational mythology for Slatter's dark fairy-tale gothic Sourdough novels. Exquisite, compelling and rich with unforgettable characters, these tales layer and intertwine in the dextrous hands of a master storyteller."

There's nothing a love more than big compendiums to get really stuck into the lore of a fantastical world.

Devils We Know by L.T. Thompson
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sequel to the Stonewall Honor winner Devils Like Us.

Three queer teens must bring Death out of hiding to save one of their own in book two of this YA historical fantasy duology that's Our Flag Means Death meets The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

We need to find Death.

Cas, Remy, and Finn are on the run from the Order of Lazarus, a secret society that wants to use Cas's prophetic powers to capture Death and ensure that only the "unworthy" and "immoral" will meet their ends. Which will not only upend nature's balance but also tear apart the only place the friends have ever felt safe to be themselves: Aboard the Mori, where Cas can live openly as a trans boy, and where Remy and Finn are beginning to fall for each other. No matter what, they can't let that happen.

To protect their found family of queer sailors, the three teens will need to find Death first and strike a bargain of their own. But the society is hot on their heels - and so is a demon who's determined to claim the soul he's owed."

Found family fighting Death? I mean, that's the purpose of our lives isn't it?

Black River by Ruby Jean Cottle
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"JUST ONE TASTE CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING.

All seventeen-year-old Dusty wants is to escape into books and the Adirondack wilderness that surrounds her small town. But in the dead of night, strange things have been happening in Black River.

Animals are being ravaged by something unnatural. And Dusty wakes up one day with dirt on her feet, changed and starving. When new kid Will arrives, Dusty feels an attraction unlike anything she's felt before. She wants him...or she wants his blood. As Dusty realizes she's transforming into something she can't control, she reluctantly turns to the only person she somehow knows will understand: the annoyingly attractive Eli Blake.

Together, Dusty and Eli must uncover the mystery of their town and their new, insatiable desires. Have they become vampires or some other kind of monster?

Whatever they are, they're not the only ones.

An irresistible blend of suspense and romance, this paranormal small town mystery is perfect for fans of Stephanie Meyers and Tigest Girma."

What's the collective noun for a group of vampires? I want something cooler than coven or brood.... A Sanguine of Vampires? 

The Way It Haunted Him by Laura R. Samotin
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A terrifying and claustrophobic queer dark academia horror set in a demon-infested archive about trauma, grief and the lengths we will go to for love.

Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Tori Bovalino.

GUILT. GRIEF. OBSESSION.

Michael Stein arrives at the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies battered and broken, blaming himself for the tragic accident that took his boyfriend's life. He is haunted by his guilt and grief, but is determined to repent by completing his boyfriend's research into demonic entities.

But instead of being welcomed by the archivist, Michael is met by Jacob Schechter - the archivist's enigmatic, brooding grandson, who has inherited the Institute after his grandfather's death. As Michael explores the archive, delving into cryptic texts and whispered histories, shadows from the past begin to seep into the present. Tormented by demons both real and imagined, Michael's grief warps into something far darker - an intoxicating, yet increasingly toxic obsession with Jacob, whose own secrets threaten to destroy them both.

Now, Michael must confront the terrible truth behind his boyfriend's death - and his obsession with Jacob - before the darkness they awaken in each other claims more than just their love, and consumes them entirely."

If his boyfriend's death had anything to do with his research perhaps it's better for Michael to leave well enough alone?

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Lex Croucher comes an extraordinary dark academia fantasy about dangerous privilege, corrupted power, and two former best friends caught on opposite sides of the secrets rotting at the heart of Britain's most prestigious boarding school.

For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its looming ornate gates, the elite boarding school - the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history - is whispered to be magical.

Briar's best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever.

When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple's grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can't completely forget their yearning for Temple, for the extraordinary, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower.

Seven years later, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the junk in Temple's attics. And when Briar takes it, they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all."

Oh, do we have some Neverending Story vibes?

The Making of a Witch by Judy Molland
Published by: She Writes Press
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Inspired by true events, this novel tells the tale of young Alice Molland, who must grapple with accusations of witchcraft and the persecution of women with mysterious gifts in turbulent seventeenth-century England.

In the tumultuous era of seventeenth-century Exeter, England, ten-year-old Alice Molland is forced to attend the brutal execution of her mentor in the healing arts, Goody Luscombe, who has been condemned to death for witchcraft.

In the years that follow, with her use of herbs such as mugwort, slippery elm, and comfrey, Alice becomes well known as a magical healer. But such gifts come accompanied by danger in the misogynistic age she lives in, and it's only a matter of time before a prominent Exeter merchant raises suspicion that she is a witch. When a love spell leads to an unexpected pregnancy, Alice becomes a target and must flee for her life."

It just didn't pay to be a smart woman on your own in the past. Even if you were actually a witch.

Kingdom of Devils by Katherine Grandjean
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The chilling true story of a brutal string of deaths on the post-Revolutionary frontier that reveal the violence at the heart of the young United States.

Kentucky, 1798: A harrowing series of murders begins. The first body, discovered by cattle drovers, lies bloody at the bottom of a ridge. Then another - a dead boy staring up from a sinkhole. Bodies turn up along roadsides, stuffed into brush. They float to the surface of muddy brooks. For nine terrifying months, over hundreds of miles of Kentucky and Tennessee countryside, the terror unfolds. The killers - two men with hazy backgrounds - are brothers, named Wiley and Micajah Harp.

The Harps killed dozens, but why they did it has eluded folklorists and historians for generations. Almost every story imagines that their motive was pure bloodlust, but for historian Katherine Grandjean, that's too simple. Instead, she uses the Harp murders to reveal the dark side of the young United States' independence. These were uncertain and dangerous years - a time when the fledgling federal government could do little to protect its citizens. And if the American Revolution was liberating, it was also deeply destabilizing, politically and socially. Even as it built up some men, it stacked the deck against others, punishing them with volatile markets, lost safety nets, and shattered aspirations. Unspooling the mystery of what sent the Harps reeling exposes the hidden, violent legacies of the revolutionary era.

Bristling with tense, page-turning storytelling - and driven by a historian's obsessive detective work - Kingdom of Devils recovers these long-forgotten murders as a haunting tale about the darkness at the heart of the American dream."

Long-forgotten indeed! How have I not heard of these serial killers?

Red Sheet by James Ellroy
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Turn to the first page. Disavow what you think you know about the so-called Red Scare. This is commie malfeasance and '60s L.A. as you've never read it before.

It's late October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis has just concluded. The Russkies blinked and pulled their ICBMs out of Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy fears reprisals from seething commies. He orders a red probe and puts the LAPD on the job.

Freddy Otash is injudiciously named the lead investigating officer. He's a stone-cold criminal with police sanction and a harrowing dope habit. He homes in on a red-front trade union. There's a murder on Halloween night. It may link to ex-VP and current gubernatorial candidate Richard Nixon and two commie snuffs from eight years back. Freddy's overworked and overamped. He's running the probe, and Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman - Tricky Dick Nixon's head goons - have hired him to keep Nixon away from the smear-minded press.

L.A. is coming unglued. Ex-cop/lawyer Tom Bradley is running for a city council seat and pushing the Rumford Fair Housing Act. Playboy kingpin Hugh Hefner is along for the ride, out to exploit racial tension and peddle untold copies of his smut rag.

Red Sheet is James Ellroy's most crazed kamikaze run and a daring, subversive work of fiction."

The truth about humanity is there is always corruption. Everywhere. It just happens that James Ellroy has made a successful career about telling these tales set in Tinseltown. 

The Man Who Led a Dream Life by David Handler
Published by: The Mysterious Press
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stewart Hoag and his new bride dive into married life with the discovery of a murdered millionaire in this mystery from early in the crime-solving career of the author-sleuth.

January 1983: Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag is getting married to the love of his life Merilee at New York City Hall. Hoagy's college chum, Ezra Spooner, stands up for him. Merilee's lovely cousin, Phoebe, stands up for her. And their young basset hound Lulu stands up for both of them. After they say "I do" and pop open the Dom Perignon, Phoebe somberly announces that she and her husband, the legendary adventurer and old money multi-millionaire Junior Singleton, are now officially divorced.

Junior leads what most men would consider a dream life. He has climbed Mount Everest twice, captained his yacht to an America's Cup victory, raced Formula One Ferraris in Europe, surfed the most dangerous Maui waves, and slept with as many women as he chose to despite being married to sweet and gentle Phoebe, who works as a music teacher and plays violin in a chamber music quartet. The pair could not be more different, and most of their friends predicted the marriage wouldn't last. They were right. Phoebe is done putting up with Junior's constant absence and compulsive philandering. She's not even asking for much of his fortune in the divorce - just $1 million and their gorgeous townhouse in the East Sixties, which she intends to sell. In fact, she'd love to sell it to Hoagy and Merilee.

The newlyweds agree to tour the home and find that it's almost exactly what they're looking for: There's a fabulous gourmet kitchen, a paneled office where Hoagy can write, a garden where Lulu can romp, a luxurious master suite with his and hers dressing rooms. The only drawback - and it's a mighty big one - is that they find Junior dead on the floor of his dressing room with a rosewood handled Claude Dozorme steak knife plunged into his left eyeball.

Who would want to kill Junior Singleton? Plenty of people, as it turns out. Junior's autopsy reveals that he was HIV-positive, which means any of the women with whom he had unprotected sex have been exposed to the deadly AIDS virus - including the hot-shot realtor Siena Bing who was supposed to be helping them sell the house. And that's just the start of the suspect list. As the NYPD's top Homicide Lieutenant, Meyer Golden, pursues the case he finds it unfolding in several different directions, and Hoagy, who possesses not only amazing insights into the criminal mind but also a gifted short-legged partner, gets drawn deeper and deeper into the fascinating and utterly bizarre world of New York City's elite."

I'm just saying, if Junior knew then he deserved to die.

Heather by Caitlin Mullen
Published by: Celadon Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award-winning author of Please See Us.

1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley's twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what's going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she's always called home.

A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman's life is often complicated and unknowable - to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself."

Introspection in the Pine Barrens might be a dangerous habit. 

Summer's Never Over by Darby Bozeman
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this addictive dual-timeline debut novel, a woman confronts her past at the remote Southern summer camp where the tragic death of her fellow counselor may not have been an accident after all.

Five years ago, Greer left her family's summer camp in the mountains of Georgia and vowed she'd never return. An idyllic season had turned into a nightmare after a mysterious Phantom began stalking the camp - and ended with Greer's friend and fellow counselor dead. Losing Steph shattered everything, and Greer's been fleeing from the grief ever since.

But then Greer's mother dies, and Greer finds herself back at Dread's Cove, surrounded by the people she was closest to that intense summer. Two ex-boyfriends - one a childhood sweetheart, the other the guy she's never gotten over - and old friends. Including Margo, Steph's best friend.

Greer and Margo didn't leave things on the best of terms. But now, Margo needs her. Margo never believed that Steph's death in that horrific fire was an accident - and she's on the trail of an explosive secret Steph took to her grave.

Greer has to make a choice: keep the Cove's secrets and her own, or finally face the truth about that summer."

You know your camp Dread's Cover, you HAVE to expect something bad to go down. Isn't it delicious?

Strangers Behind Closed Doors by Catherine Adel West
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A twisty thriller about a woman who vanishes from a luxury hotel, and the detective who believes the case is tied to the unsolved disappearances of other Black women in the city.

Giovanni Mason worked hard to become the first Black head concierge at Chicago's exclusive and glamorous Ivory Hotel. It's a job that requires patience, perfection, and, above all, self-control. But when Giovanni reunites with her former best friend, makeup influencer Natalie Moore, things get heated as a mending of fences morphs into a public argument in the hotel restaurant, and Giovanni loses her cool. Hours later, Natalie is missing. Evidence piles against Giovanni - a ransacked, blood-spattered hotel room, fresh bruises on her body, and a troubling gap in her memory from the last twelve hours.

Detective Redding Stark is the only one unconvinced of Giovanni's guilt. She sees disturbing parallels to a series of disappearances targeting Black women and believes Natalie's case is part of something bigger. Together, she and Giovanni are pulled into a dangerous web of privilege, power, and betrayal inside - and far beyond - the walls of the Ivory Hotel.

Will Giovanni and Detective Stark find Natalie or join the missing?"

Murders in hotel are catnip to me. Elisa Lam for example....

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.

All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill.

A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell....

Famed children's author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday - and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.

But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she's kept up for over half a century.

Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...

With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email - and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.

But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?"

If you have deep dark secrets, perhaps a documentary on your life isn't the best idea.

Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a "serious" life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa's extensive collection of art and antiques - although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco's great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it's too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we've always wanted to be."

I can totally see my grandmother fitting in at Coco's villa.

Contrapposto by Dave Eggers
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art from Dave Eggers, the award-winning, bestselling author of The Circle, Hologram for the King, and The Eyes and the Impossible.

Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school - an experience of dubious value - and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart.

Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something - and someone - else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death.

The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it's about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals, and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either."

No matter how dubious the value of art school, it is kind of necessary to learn the proper language to take the art world by storm... 

Sometime This Century by Samantha Silva
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A riotous rom-com meets a swoon-worthy Regency comedy of manners in this heartfelt time-travel story about sisters, love, identity - and how Jane Austen just might change your life.

Annabel Blake was born in the wrong century. An Austen-loving book nerd, she dreams of being a writer herself, with a just-penned Regency novel to prove it. Her hopes sink when her hot author crush rejects her: The novel reads like she's never been in love. Ouch.

Annabel sees a chance to rewrite it when her ex-pat boss sends her to England to sort out her family's "crumbling old pile" of a country house. Tempted by an invitation tucked in an antique writing desk and a "period" coachman at her door, Annabel's whisked away to a local Regency Society ball - cue candlelight, costumes, dancing - that might be just the inspiration she needs. There's even the achingly perfect - and wildly out of her league - Henry Leighton D'Evercy.

When Annabel's audacious influencer sister crashes the party with her super-chill ex-boyfriend, the unlikely trio wake to find themselves trapped in the actual Regency era. No Wi-Fi, lattes, cellphones - just a world where manners, money, and marriage rule.

As Annabel falls deeply for D'Evercy, she must decide: write her perfect love story...or live it."

While Jane Austen did indeed change my life, I have never once thought I'd want to live back then. The healthcare alone!

A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord by Shana Galen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A down-on-her-luck shop girl and the son of an earl find they have more in common than they thought - including sexual chemistry they can't resist - in this fresh Regency romance by Shana Galen.

Tamsin Archer might just be having the worst year of her life. And that's saying something, considering her father is dead, her mother was maimed at work, and her family regularly sleeps under London's bridges. But when her younger siblings go missing, Tamsin decides it's time to step up and fight.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Tamsin's more than willing to take a few risks to reunite with her siblings. But while disguising herself to sneak into homes and steal from the rich, Tamsin is caught by Garret Kildare, the second son of an earl. Much to Tamsin's surprise, Garret doesn't want to turn her in. He wants to help her. Though Tamsin's wary - she's learned to never trust supposed "good luck" - the unlikely pair form an alliance, one that quickly muddles their class differences.

Garret knows he must be careful. Falling for a woman of a lower class could be the nail in the coffin for his family's tenuous social standing, and there are eyes everywhere. Ignoring their attraction proves impossible, though, and soon the lines they've drawn around their partnership begin to blur. As more focus lands on Tamsin and Garret, they wonder if their red-hot connection means giving up everything - and everyone - they've ever known."

So forget about the siblings and run off with the son of an earl? OK....

How to Not Marry a Lord by Emma Orchard
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: eBook, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discover the BRAND NEW gorgeous, super spicy Regency romance from Emma Orchard.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must not be in want of a husband...

After four weary years on the marriage mart, Cecilia longs for an appealing match - or maybe, shockingly, no match at all. So when she and her sisters discover they are unexpectedly heiresses to a substantial Suffolk estate, Cecilia dares to imagine a future shaped by her own choosing.

There is, however, one strict condition: to secure their inheritance, none of the sisters may become engaged for a full year.

Cecilia is confident she can manage - but that's before fortune hunters in the shape of handsome lords begin to circle, matchmakers sharpen their claws, and a taciturn Major proves far more difficult to ignore than any conventional proposal.

Can Cecilia protect her heart, her sisters, and the freedom she has only just discovered...or will desire cost her everything she stands to gain?"

Totally take the money and remain a spinster. It's a far safer prospect all around.

It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they've given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words "Peter Pan," Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all."

If the Sandman came in a warped our childhood memories.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White, Scott Peterson, Veronica Fish and Andy Fish
Published by: Ten Speed Graphic
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show - and discover the secret of its enigmatic host - in this stunningly illustrated graphic novel adaptation of the thrilling national bestseller Mister Magic.

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children's program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving videos or scripts, no evidence of who directed or produced the show, and no records of who - or what - the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former circle of friends has. In Val's case, kidnapped by her father and in hiding ever since, she doesn't even have those.

A surprise encounter with Val's old castmates brings them all together for a reunion. Back to the remote desert filming compound that feels like it's been waiting for them all this time. Back among friends they haven't seen for years, but who somehow understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they're the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as Val reclaims parts of her past, she wonders: Are they there by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of friendship....

Rendered in striking full-color art by beloved comic artists Veronica Fish and Andy Fish, this gripping graphic adaptation of Mister Magic fully immerses you in the psychological thriller that PopSugar, CrimeReads, and the Chicago Public Library named a best book of the year."

I love it when prose books get adapted into graphic novels. LOVE IT!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.G. Slatter, Andrew Sean Greer, Caitlin Mullen, Catherine Adel West, Cynthia Pelayo, Darby Bozeman, Dave Eggers, Emma Orchard, James Ellroy, Kate Khavari, Kiersten White, Lex Croucher, Samantha Silva, Sarah Vaughan, Shana Galen

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss
Published by: Daw Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 3240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times-bestselling phenomenon Patrick Rothfuss returns to the wildly popular Kingkiller Chronicle universe with a stunning reimagining of "The Lightning Tree." Expanded to twice its previous length and lavishly illustrated by Nate Taylor, this touching stand-alone story is sure to please new readers and veteran Rothfuss fans alike.

Bast knows how to bargain. The give-and-take of a negotiation is as familiar to him as the in-and-out of breathing; to watch him trade is to watch an artist at work. But even a master's brush can slip. When he accepts a gift, taking something for nothing, Bast's whole world is knocked askew, for he knows how to bargain - but not how to owe.

From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle's most charming fae as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.

The Narrow Road Between Desires is Bast's story. In it he traces the old ways of making and breaking, following his heart even when doing so goes against his better judgement.

After all, what good is caution if it keeps him from danger and delight?"

Here's a wee morsel to hold us over.

Disenchantment: Untold Tales Vol. 1 by Matt Groening
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"No, you're not dreaming, it's Dreamland in print!

That's right, your favorite princess, demon, and elf-hybrid-thing from Matt Groening's popular animated series Disenchantment is now available in comic form! Easily streamable right to your brain via your eyes with no pesky Wi-Fi needed! Here lies the first of THREE all-new, all-comic volumes chronicling the stories you didn't see on screen."

In case, like me, you're suffering from withdrawal and haven't quite reached the phase of rewatching the entire series.

Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sharp-edged, supremely twisty thriller about three women who find themselves trapped inside stories they know aren't their own, from the author of Alice and Near the Bone.

Celia wakes up in a house that's supposed to be hers. There's a little girl who claims to be her daughter and a man who claims to be her husband, but Celia knows this family - and this life - is not hers...

Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip - but then her friend's boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. No one else believes Allie, but she is sure that something about this trip is very, very wrong...

Maggie just wants to be home with her daughter, but she's in a dangerous situation and she doesn't know who put her there or why. She'll have to fight with everything she has to survive...

Three women. Three stories. Only one way out. This captivating novel will keep readers guessing until the very end."

Come on, you know you need to know!

Past Lying by Val McDermid
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment to her acclaimed detective series, internationally bestselling author Val McDermid returns with DCI Karen Pirie in a propulsive new thriller of deceit and vengeance, set against the disquiet and investigative challenges of a global pandemic.

Hailed as Britain's "Queen of Crime" (Scotsman), Val McDermid is the award-winning, internationally bestselling author of over thirty novels that have enthralled readers for the past three decades. The long-awaited seventh novel in McDermid's acclaimed Karen Pirie series, Past Lying is a breakneck collision of ego, retribution, and just how far one will go to settle the score.

It's April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown, but that doesn't mean crime takes a holiday. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot - the streets all but empty, an hour's outdoor exercise the maximum allowed - but when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie's team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it's game on again. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have.

Tense, atmospheric, and relentlessly captivating, Past Lying is another winner from Val McDermid, and new and longtime readers alike will delight in this triumphant return to a stellar series."

I have always been a fan of Val McDermid, but after watching Karen Pirie on BritBox I'm now obsessed with this series.

Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a film crew's location shoot delivers an actual shooting, Clare Cosi finds herself at the scene of a true crime in this showstopping entry in the beloved Coffeehouse Mysteries from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

Only Murders in Gotham, the smash-hit streaming program, is famous for filming in authentic New York locations and using real New Yorkers as extras. For its second season, they've chosen to spotlight the century-old Village Blend and its quirky crew of baristas. Shop manager and master roaster Clare Cosi is beyond thrilled, especially when her superb bulletproof coffee lands her a craft services contract for the production.

Madame, the eccentric octogenarian owner of the landmark shop, reveals an old kinship with the star of the show, comedian Jerry Sullivan. Now a Hollywood legend, Jerry frequented the Blend during his early years performing in Greenwich Village comedy clubs. But the past may hold more than nostalgia for Jerry. Suspicious accidents begin plaguing his shoot. Then a real bullet is fired from a stage gun, and Clare becomes convinced something sinister is afoot.

While Jerry's production moves to exciting new locations, Clare keeps the coffee flowing - and her investigation going - even as a murderer lurks in the wings. But can she root out the rotten player in this Big Apple production before the lights go out on her?

Includes a stellar menu of surefire recipes!"

I'm all about "Only Murders in" pick your New York location.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, a dazzling first entry in a captivating new Regency-era mystery series with a feminist spin from Celeste Connally.

London, 1815. Lady Petra Forsyth, daughter of the Earl of Holbrook, has made a shocking proclamation. After losing her beloved fiancé in an accident three years earlier, she announces in front of London's loosest lips that she will never marry. A woman of independent means - and rather independent ways - Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life is gone. Instead, she plans to continue enjoying the best of society without any expectations.

But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of a fit due to her "melancholia" while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper - uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Petra has reason to believe her friend is alive, a shocking murder proves more danger is afoot than she thought. And the more determined Lady Petra becomes in uncovering the truth, the more her own headstrong actions and desire for independence are used against her, putting her own freedom - and possibly her life - in jeopardy."

I love the Regency Era and I love mysteries, therefore I love this book.

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a literary icon stays with the Dickinson family, Emily and her housemaid Willa find themselves embroiled in a shocking murder in this new mystery from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower.

August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their homestead on Main Street. Emily's brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily has been a longtime admirer of Emerson's writing and is thrilled at the chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem. Willa Noble, the second maid in the Dickinson home and Emily's friend, encourages her to speak to the famous but stern man. But his secretary, Luther, intrigues Willa more because of his clear fondness for the Dickinson sisters.

Willa does not know if Luther truly cares for one of the Dickinson girls or if he just sees marrying one of them as a way to raise himself up in society. After a few days in his company, Willa starts to believe it's the latter. Miss Lavinia, Emily's sister, appears to be enchanted by Luther; a fact that bothers Emily greatly. However, Emily's fears are squashed when Luther turns up dead in the Dickinson's garden. It seems that he was poisoned. Emerson, aghast at the death of his secretary, demands answers. Emily and Willa set out to find them in order to save the Dickinson family reputation and stop a cold-blooded fiend from killing again."

What a better way to end a questionable courtship than murder?

The Honor of Your Presence by Dave Eggers
Published by: McSweeney's
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 72 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this long short story, or short novella, Dave Eggers gives us an unforgettable duo, Helen and Peter Mahoney, a homebody niece and her adventurous, almost-British uncle. Helen designs invitations to parties and galas to which she is not welcome, and is quite comfortable with that. One day, though, Peter wonders, "Why not print an extra invite and I'll be your plus one?" What starts out as an innocuous lark becomes much more - a very funny and lyrical referendum on why humans congregate and celebrate."

This has very Mrs. Dalloway vibe which I can't wait to dig into.

Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar
Published by: HQ
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the snow falls, she will be free...

The invitations always arrive the same way - without warning, appearing around the city on the first snowfall of the year, simply inscribed with 'Tonight.'

When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he's bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desparate to be free...

From the bestselling author of Midnight in Everwood, comes another spellbinding literary fairy tale that's The Great Gatsby meets Swan Lake."

Personally I'm here more for The Night Circus vibes.

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A stunning new edition of this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe that tells how aeronaut Lee Scoresby and the armored bear Iorek Byrnison first met. Now with full-color illustrations from Chris Wormell.

After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Lee Scoresby and his dæmon, Hester, find themselves floating north. On landing, it's not long before Scoresby is embroiled in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and Lee's longtime nemesis - a hired killer. Lee's been in tight spots before, but getting out of this mess will require some sharp shooting and the help of an unlikely new ally - the massive, surly, armored bear Iorek Byrnison.

Newly illustrated in full color by renowned print-maker Chris Wormell, this edition is a wonderfully gift-worthy production"

This is one of my favorite short pieces in the His Dark Materials universe and I'm so happy to see this lovely new edition.

Billy and the Giant Adventure by Jamie Oliver
Published by: Tundra Books (NY)
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One pinch of adventure, a dash of friendship, a sprinkle of mystery and a HUGE spoonful of magic...Jamie Oliver, bestselling author and internationally renowned chef, delivers the perfect recipe for a page-turning children's fiction debut!

Billy and his friends know that Waterfall Woods is out of bounds; strange things are rumored to have happened there and no one in their village has ventured past its walls for decades...But when they discover a secret way in, Billy and his best friends, Anna, Jimmy, and Andy, can't resist the temptation to explore! Only to quickly discover that the woods are brimming with magic and inhabited by all sorts of unusual creatures, including a whole community of sprites who need the children's help! With magical battles, a long-lost mythical city, fantastical flying machines, epic feasts and one GIANT rescue - not to mention some mouth-watering recipes at the back - get ready for an adventure you'll never forget!"

Jamie Oliver probably only actually wrote the recipes, but as long as it has his joy and enthusiasium for life then that's all I need.

System Collapse by Martha Wells
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment in Martha Wells's New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there's an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can't have the planet, they're sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there's something wrong with Murderbot; it isn't running within normal operational parameters. ART's crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza's SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they're going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what's wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work."

If you're sitting around to wait for the deadly droid revolut in the Star Wars comics to come out in trade paperback, might I suggest another murderous robot?

A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened by Steve Kozak
Published by: Applause Books
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bea Arthur as the owner of the Mos Eisley Cantina. Long scenes entirely of Wookies bleating at each other, without subtitles. Harvey Korman, in drag, as a four-armed Space Julia Child. Six minutes of Jefferson Starship performing for Art Carney and a bored Imperial Guard. Mark Hamill, fresh from his near-fatal motorcycle accident, slathered in pancake makeup. A salacious holographic burlesque from Diahann Carroll. Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact. George Lucas, who completely disowned the production, reportedly has said, "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it." Just how on earth did this thing ever see the light of day? To answer that question, as Steven Kozak shows in this fascinating and often hilarious inside look into the making of the Special, you have to understand the cultural moment in which it appeared - a long, long time ago when cheesy variety shows were a staple of network television and Star Wars was not yet the billion-dollar multimedia behemoth that it is today. Kozak explains how the Special was one piece of a PR blitz undertaken by Lucas and his colleagues as they sought to protect the emerging franchise from hostile studio executives. He shows how, despite the involvement of some of the most talented people in the business, creative differences between movie and television writers led to a wildly uneven product. He gives entertaining accounts of the problems that plagued production, which included a ruinously expensive cantina set; the acrimonious departure of the director and Lucas himself; and a furious Grace Slick, just out of rehab, demanding to be included in the production. Packed with memorable anecdotes, drawing on extensive new interviews with countless people involved in the production, and told with mingled affection and bewilderment, this never-before-told story gives a fascinating look at a strange moment in pop-culture history that remains an object of fascination even today."

Let's not blame this all on an expensive Cantina set that's seen for only five minutes. This is nightmare fuel of the highest order and I for one will be traumatized forever for watching it. So this book will begin the healing.

Elmer Bernstein, Film Composer by Peter M. Bernstein
Published by: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
Publication Date: November 14th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 280 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A behind-the-scenes look at the life and music of legendary Hollywood composer Elmer Bernstein, the only person to be nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s Over a career spanning 54 years, he composed landmark scores in every available genre - epics, jazz, westerns, dramas, and comedies - and his credits read like list of the greatest films of his time: The Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man With the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, to name just a few. This biography, written by Elmer's son Peter, interweaves exclusive interviews, oral histories not otherwise available, estate archival materials, and personal experiences. Elmer Bernstein lived a colorful life: he was a first generation American; he was blacklisted; and he was a fearless advocate for film music not afraid to take on anyone in pages of trade papers. The book looks at many of his landmark scores in depth, collaborations with various producers and directors, and his success in navigating the rough and tumble of Hollywood. There is much to his story: a cycle of struggle, success, frustration, failure, and reinvention repeated many times over his career which connected the Old Hollywood with the modern era."

Remember, there's more than one famous Bernstein out there! Also, they were friends but not family. Though this was written by Elmer's son.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amanda Flower, Celeste Connally, Christina Henry, Cleo Coyle, Dave Eggers, Disenchantment, Elmer Bernstein, Jamie Oliver, M.A. Kuzniar, Martha Wells, Patrick Rothfuss, Philip Pullman, Star Wars, Val McDermid

The Circle
Based on the book by Dave Eggers
Starring: Emma Watson, Ellar Coltrane, Glenne Headly, Bill Paxton, Karen Gillan, Nate Corddry, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Amie McCarthy Winn, Eve Gordon, Patton Oswalt, Smith Cho, Amir Talai, Elvy Yost, Ellen Wong, Poorna Jagannathan, Judy Reyes and Beck
Release Date: April 28th, 2017
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Mae's life isn't going well, her car breaking down and forcing her to call her ex Mercer to fix it is just the latest indignity. In fact her parents talk more about Mercer and all the help he's given around the house what with Mae's father having MS than they actually talk about Mae. But her luck is about to change. Her friend Annie has gotten her an interview at the groundbreaking tech company The Circle. Mae gets a job in Customer Experience, and it may not be the job to fulfill her fear of wasted potential, but it's where everyone starts at The Circle. Yet her start is rockier than most. She's not participating as much as the organization would like. She's not reaching out instead she's focusing inwards and escaping in a kayak whenever she can. Late one night after visiting her parents she snaps and takes a kayak out on the bay which she's "borrowed" from her regular rental place after they've closed. Ironically it's tech from The Circle that catches her malfeasance but also saves her life. She is brought before two of the three founders, Eamon Bailey and Tom Stenton who decide to not punish her but use her as an example. Make her the face of a new initiative. Mae is going transparent. Everything she does, every move she makes, can be watched by millions of people worldwide. Because sharing is caring and knowledge not shared is a crime. Yet as Mae is scaling to new heights in the company her friend Annie is spiraling downwards. Mae doesn't know the end game of The Circle or how transparency is another method of control blindly loving her fame. As she gets in deeper she will be forced to make hard decisions and witness horrors that could change everything. It's up to her to stop The Circle, but will she?

"They're Watching You!" With those simple, musical, almost whispered words while waiting for Tom Hiddleston in Kong: Skull Island in a darkened theater I was instantly sold on The Circle. Of course previews are designed specifically to get asses in seats so despite my love of the preview I waited for reviews and in the meantime picked up the book. For years I knew who Dave Eggers is, more for his founding of McSweeney's, the west coast's answer to The New Yorker, than for his book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but I'd never actually read his work. Ironically the book gave me more hope for the movie, until the abysmal reviews came in. I mean, 16% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes is one of the worst scores I've seen in recent years, but on the bright side I hear the film will do well at The Razzies. So there's always a silver lining. Going into this movie with low, in fact almost no expectations was interesting. Yes, I was still frustrated when they got something so right only to follow it up with such a colossal misinterpretation of the text, but those were things I was able to laugh off. Sometimes knowing you're watching a dud gives you freedom to enjoy it for what it is. That's not to say I didn't have major issues, I still have criticisms aplenty, they're just from a more zen place. A place where Emma Watson seemingly single-handedly destroyed a film with an otherwise near-perfect cast. But it can't all be blamed on her, oh wait, it can, because all the changes, the taking a dark satire and spinning it into a thriller, all of that seemed in service of making the character of Mae more in line with Watson's values than as she was written. Because Watson is someone who would never drink the Kool-Aid. Do the people who made this film know about Jonestown?  

So let's go into Emma Watson's Razzie worthy performance. I really can't think of anyone more miscast than Watson as Mae. Mae is ambitious, manipulative, sexual, clever, and instead here she is atonal, flat, passionless, sexless. Look at how they clothe her! She's wearing all these sweaters that fully cover her body so that not an inch of skin is visible. For years now I've had friends who hate Watson's acting. I've always been indifferent to her. She's not how I see Hermione, but then the movies aren't how I see the world of Harry Potter at all. She has a funny cameo in This Is the End, but The Bling Ring was so boring I have tried to excise it from my mind, as for Beauty and the Beast, we are not going there. But I do respect her and I do follow what she does, especially with regards to not just her stance on feminism but on reading as well. So the fact that she plays Mae as someone with no charisma, someone who literally NO ONE would follow isn't just baffling to me, it takes the punch out of the whole movie. I don't know if I can accurately state how bad she is. The lines she delivers feel as if she's reading them off cue cards and is being forced to do so and is therefore coming off as harassed and with just the whiff of pissed off teenager being forced to say hi to company. Was there even a director? Because ANY sensible person in charge should have been like, "Hey Emma, can we get some emoting or acting here? You are an actress right?" Mae is stripped bare, but not literally because God forbid Emma shows some skin, and made boring. When Annie tells Mae she's perfect, I had the biggest laugh. Annie, that's the speed talking! 

Yet the biggest changes that were wrought happen in the movie's climax. When Mae does a presentation on how Circle technology can be used to find anyone on earth things spiral out of control and her ex Mercer dies. This is true in both the movie and the book. Only in the book, a dark dystopian comedy, Mae is the instigator, she's egging the Circlers on. She's releasing drones like flying monkeys and that's the moment in the book when you realize that Mae is one of them. But here, oh no, the sexless Emma Watson couldn't be seen as causing someone's death. So instead she's pushing against hunting down Mercer. She's hemming and hawing and Tom Hanks as Eamon Bailey steps out and drives Mercer literally to his death. Um, WTF is this? Bailey is the papa bear of The Circle, if anything Patton Oswalt should have been behind this brutal manslaughter. This moment is the moment, for me, that the book gelled and also the moment when I realized Holllywood just didn't get it. James Ponsoldt, a director and writer whom I've never heard of aside from his David Foster Wallace movie which I'm now probably never going to watch, just didn't get it. The Circle isn't about a near miss, a disaster avoided, this is about a technological Utopia being thrust on us with forced adaption to this secretly totalitarian regime, not something with a happily ever after. And again, I don't know if this was to preserve the "nice" imagine that Watson has built up or because they thought the ending was too bleak. Here's the thing, the bleak ending is more real. The reason the book drew me in is because at the end Mae wasn't the savior, she was Judas!

Though Ty turns out to be the character most changed. In fact, I'm surprised they actually got John Boyega at all with how minimal the role is. In the book "Ty" is a mysterious stranger who Mae is drawn to and has relations with only to eventually find out he is one of the three founders of the company. Yes, I do admit that drawing out that reveal, even in the book, pushes credulity, but to go the opposite way and have him just as exposition and then a deus ex machina is a waste of his talents. While I wasn't all on the Boyega train to begin with I've seen him enough now to know that he is criminally wasted here. He actually has no point other than to fill the plot holes. Plus, can we talk about that hasty ending? You're not going to watch this film, trust me, you're not, so here are some spoilers, in fact all the spoilers. Mae turns against the company and in a lecture she's giving during the talk, thanks to Ty, all the "secret" correspondence of the other two founders is leaked. In the book this is actually what Ty WANTS Mae to do but as I've said before, she goes deliciously Judas and that's the end of Ty. Instead the data destroys the founders yet somehow The Circle survives and Mae's out kayaking... about the only thing they got right is Mae and that stupid kayak. I just don't get it. I mean, just why!?! This book was a bestseller and then you go and do all these tweaks and twists and add a HEA and you think you're going to get a blockbuster movie? That's not how things work. Create a good adaptation OR a good reinterpretation. Don't give us muck. Audiences don't like it, as Rotten Tomatoes has clearly shown.

But the most nonsensical thing to me is something that probably I and only other graphic designers would notice, and that's The Circle's logo. The Circle's logo as seen on the right hand of the image above is ubiquitous in the film and is just plain boring and derivative. Like Apple redoes The Criterion Collection's logo. You might be wondering why this would bother me so much, and the answer is Jessica Hische. Jessica Hische is an amazing designer noted for her typography skills. Seriously, check her out and you'll realize you've been loving her stuff for years without even knowing it. As she said about The Circle on her website: "After working with Dave Eggers on Hologram for the King I was pumped to be brought on board to design his new book, The Circle. It was especially fun to design this cover, as I’ve spent the last two years living in San Francisco surrounded by the tech industry (my husband works for Facebook) and the story is set in an influential social media company. I also had to design a logo for the fictitious company, The Circle, and was inspired by the interweaving connectivity of social media sites and also knots that once tight are difficult to untie." The logo she designed is perfection. I don't know if Eggers' description or her design came first but it captures what the book is about 100%. But should I be surprised that a movie would trash the work of a talented designer and start over with something bland and unoriginal when that is what they did with the whole narrative? I guess not. But I can still grumble about it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Dave Eggers, Desexualize, Dystopian, Dystopian Drama, Emma Watson, Graphic Designer, HEA, Jessica Hische, John Boyega, Jonestown, McSweeney's, Razzie, The Circle, The New Yorker, Tom Hanks, Tom Hiddleston