strange and random happenstance

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Published by: HarperTorch
Publication Date: 1990
Format: Paperback, 412 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Crowley and Aziraphale have quite literally been there since the beginning. Man, woman, garden, snake. Crowley was the snake, Aziraphale was wielding the flaming sword while guarding the gates of Eden, but please don't ask about where the sword is now. But nowadays Crowley has the car and the suave clothes that befit his side while Aziraphale collects books. What else is there to do when you're waiting for the world to end? The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch predicted it all back in 1655. And that's not the nice that indicates the end of the world next Saturday is a good thing, it's the other, more "precise" kind. It's going to happen. Everything has been put in place, the "horsemen" are assembling, the time has come for the uprising of evil to herald the end of days. If only there hadn't been that little mix up with the son of Satan a few years back. Because if things had gone to plan it would have been a nice and smooth end to the world, instead it's complicated. Of course some of that was on purpose. Crowley and Aziraphale aren't sure whose side they're on because they rather like the world as it is, even if any tape left overly long in a car will start blaring Freddie Mercury and Queen. So they formed a plan. Crowley was meant to switch the son of an American diplomat with the Antichrist. Which he did. He and Aziraphale then posed as benevolent beings in this boy's life so that good and evil had an equal chance when the end days came. But not even their plan has gone to plan because the baby was switched again. Because the real Antichrist is a boy named Adam Young who has grown up in the perfect idyll of Lower Tadfield, Oxfordshire. Which means now that the Apocalypse is nigh the race is on to find the real Antichrist. But Crowley and Aziraphale aren't the only ones looking for Adam. There's Anathema Device, the descendant of Agnes Nutter, and Newton Pulsifer, a descendant of the Witchfinder who burned Agnes at the stake and the only current recruit to the Witchfinder Army. With time against them they all end up working together in ways they never would have thought. But can you go up against a witch who always knew what was going to happen? Or can you thwart the omens?

I first picked up Good Omens when it was rumored that Neil Gaiman would be stopping by the 2011 North American Discworld Convention here in Madison, Wisconsin. I found it kind of lacking. Too many characters, too many dated jokes, an ending that was more whimper than bang. I love Gaiman and Pratchett but I was not sure I loved them together. Then Neil made his magnificent appearance with Pratchett and their stories, their friendship, breathed new life into the story for me. I could see what they were trying to do which didn't really happen for me when reading the book. I was too busy figuring out who was who and who wrote which section. After that talk I decided that I should, in the near future, reread it with this newfound appreciation. Of course given my reading habits the near future turned into eight years. But at least it wasn't a whole decade! The main reason I picked it up again is because the book had been adapted by Amazon and David Tennant and Michael Sheen were starring as Crowley and Aziraphale, a more perfect casting I could never imagine. So I reread the book and I enjoyed it doubly as much as I previously did. I still had issues, I still think there are too many characters and sometimes the little vignettes staged to get a certain joke across instead of adding to the narrative take away from the overall structure of the book. Because this book doesn't flow. It's setup after setup and some work and some don't. Which leads me to inevitably talk about the adaptation, which did a good job of fixing some problems while adding in new ones. Who hired Frances McDormand to narrate? She was horrible. But ignoring Frances McDormand, which I admit is hard to do, the adaptation was the opportunity to fix the book and, for the most part, fix it they did. In particular the third episode "Hard Times" which chronicles the friendship of Crowley and Aziraphale through the ages is one of the best hours of television you will ever watch. It is two people who are genuinely friends playing two characters who, despite being on opposite sides of the celestial war, are genuinely friends. It ALL comes down to friendship, and that is a good thing.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Antichrist, Aziraphale, Crowley, David Tennant, For the Love of Book Clubs, Good Omens, Michael Sheen, NADWCon, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Published by: Picador USA
Publication Date: September 19th, 2000
Format: Paperback, 639 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

In 1939 Europe isn't safe if you're Jewish. Josef Kavalier lives in Prague but is unable to use the travel visa his parents obtained for him due to the ever changing policies of the Nazi Party. "Joe" was studying escapology and his teacher, Bernard Kornblum, has a plan. To smuggle Joe out with the Golem of Prague, a prize the Reich desperately wants. Concealed in the coffin Joe eventually makes his way to New York City and his cousin Sammy Klayman. Joe's one mission on reaching New York City is to find a way to get his family to join him. This requires money. Upon learning of Joe's artistic abilities as well as his knowledge of escapology, Sammy comes up with a plan that he pitches to his boss, Joe and Sam, under the moniker Kavalier and Clay, are going to write a comic, The Escapist. The Escapist will fight Fascism and punch Hitler in his ugly mug and laugh in the face of Germans with his Golden Key that lets him escape any bonds. But the creators of the comics, while decently paid, often didn't get the monetary rewards or fame they deserved. Even when the comic makes the leap to radio. The cousins grow frustrated. Joe has his family to rescue and a girl he's fallen for, while Sam has literary ambitions and is coming to grips with his sexuality, awakened due to the voice actor who plays the Escapist. These aspects of themselves and their desires play out in the worst way possible. Joe's family dies. Even his younger brother, Thomas, whom he had managed to get out of Europe. Thomas's boat, The Ark of Miriam, was bombed by a German U-boat and he now lies dead on the ocean floor. Meanwhile Sam is involved in a police raid on a getaway with several other homosexuals. He is violently assaulted and raped by FBI agents. When he finally makes his way back to New York City he finds that Joe is gone, he's enlisted in the Navy, and his girl, Rosa, is pregnant. Sam's trauma after his assault makes him sublimate his homosexuality and he wants to live a "normal" life. A nice nuclear family in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Which is what he offers Rosa. They can marry and raise little Tommy as their own. Only they will know the truth. That is until one day when Joe finally returns to their lives. Will Kavalier and Clay reunite or will all their lives once again implode?

I have repeatedly tried to embrace Michael Chabon and I just can't. There's no doubt he has immense talent as seen in his stunning prose. I just don't like what the prose are about or how they're structured. And I really think that it's not just his writing I dislike, I dislike him as a person. But it hasn't evolved to the hate I hold for his microdosing wife. So yes, applaud his use of obscure and verbose language, which, coming from Columbia University leads to Pulitzers, but coming from me, is a backhanded compliment. You shouldn't need a dictionary to read a book. And the thing is, I really tired with this book. I really really did because it's one of my friend's favorite books and to just have to say it wasn't for me left my stomach completely tied up in knots. Seriously, the stomach acid produced was extraordinary. I had to see my doctor. But this mix of magical realism and historical fiction with a weird Lovecraftian sidequest just didn't work for me. Though what it really came down to is Jack Kirby. It would not be hyperbolic to say that comics as we know them would not exist without Jack Kirby. Kirby, with the occasional assist from Stan Lee, co-created some of the most famous superheroes that now make up the MCU, from Captain America to Thor to the X-Men. With Joe Simon he created the single most famous comic book cover of all time; Captain America punching Hitler. That cover was published in March of 1941, nine months before the United States finally entered WWII. And for many it felt like the call to arms it was. But also a shocking statement from an unexpected source, a Jewish comic book artist. Kirby died in 1994 and tragically his later years were spent fighting Marvel to exert control over properties he had created. A struggle that his children continued. Marvel wanted to consign Kirby to history while Stan Lee "hijacked" Kirby's legacy to embolden his own and become "the man." The only way to sum up Kirby's legacy is that he was done wrong by. Therefore I have major issues with this book. I know that in his afterword Michael Chabon states that he wants "to acknowledge the deep debt I owe in this and everything else I've ever written to the work of the late Jack Kirby, the King of Comics." So, you were so in his debt that you did what everyone else had done before and hijacked his life to create your fictional story!?! You had other artists creating his Captain America cover when real comic book artists appear in this book. You could defend Chabon by saying that his characters are an admixture of several real life comic book artists... And yet he singles out Kirby. Chabon, I don't care who or what you are but you done wrong by Kirby and therefore you done wrong by be.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Captain America, Comics, For the Love of Book Clubs, Golem, Homosexuality, Jack Kirby, Joe Kavalier, Michael Chabon, Pulitzer, Sam Clay, Stan Lee, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Escapist, WWII

Shadowstitch by Cari Thomas
Published by: Voyager
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 672 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Anna survived the attempt to bind her magic, but Anna and her coven aren't free from danger yet.

Haunted by her aunt's death, living in fear of her curse, and fated to love the one man she can never have, the last thing Anna needs is a witch hunt. Now she must conceal her magic once more or risk losing everything.

But when deadly hysteria strikes across the capital, and in her own school, the coven are left dangerously exposed. Delving deeper into the magical underworld of London, Anna and her twin sister Effie must find a way to work together to protect the coven.

But as the witch hunt intensifies and the hysteria spirals out of control, can Effie and Anna truly trust each other?"

I am so obsessed with this series that I ordered my copy from England because it was published a month earlier. And it was SO worth it.

Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Published by: Farrago
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The hilarious first novel in a cosy and inclusive historical romantasy series by the writer of Horrible Histories.

Two strangers.

Two Londons.

Two hearts that won't stop beating...

In an alternative Elizabethan London, Fang awakes from his death to discover he is not quite human anymore. In fact, despite having somehow acquired the power of immortality, he's also not quite vampire, zombie, werewolf or any of the other supernatural beings who roam the twin cities of Upper London and its underground counterpart, Deep London.

A jaded traveller from the Ming Empire, Fang is desperate to find a way to reverse the spell and get on with being dead when he stumbles upon Lazare de Quitte-Beuf, a theatrical Frenchman who is afflicted with the same mysterious condition. Thrown together by the curse they share, the two men set out to undo the strange magic that binds them. As they are drawn further into the shadowy world of Deep London, they unearth a dangerous plot which they appear to be right in the middle of...

And, surely, when in grave danger, the worst thing they could do would be to fall in love, wouldn't it?"

Just to clarify, Horrible Histories writer yes, Ghosts writer no.

Summers End by Juneau Black
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A unique take on dark academia, featuring everyone's favorite vulpine sleuth, Vera Vixen.

It's late August in Shady Hollow, and intrepid reporter Vera Vixen agrees to chaperone the school's annual field trip to Summers End, an ancient tomb built by an early woodland culture. Naturally, her good friend Lenore Lee comes along to help her.

But when the group enters the tomb one morning, they find a corpse that is distinctly more...modern than expected. Digging deeper, Vera and Lenore discover that the deceased was involved in the recent excavation at the site, and very unpopular with their colleagues - including Lenore's sister, Ligeia. Now the fox and raven must delve into the dark world of academia and archaeology to clear Ligeia's name. Some creature at Summers End thought they were clever enough to get away with the perfect murder. Can Vera and Lenore unearth the truth in time?"

I mean, you KNOW this is the dark academia take you've been waiting for!

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gorgeous hardcover edition featuring lavender sprayed edges! The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst's romantasy debut-a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn't had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire's precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city's elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She's hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy - and very handsome - neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she's determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks--the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high."

With the rise of the cozy fantasy there are so many books I just want to move into, I mean, how could you not with this book? Look at that cover!

Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida
Published by: Europa Editions
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A symphony of interconnected lives that offers a compelling reflection on life in modern-day metropolises at the intersection of isolation and intimacy in Yoshida's English-language debut.

Set over several nights, between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., in and around Tokyo, this mind-blowingly constructed book is an elaborate, energetic fresco of human nocturnal existence in all its mystery, an enigmatic literary mix of Agatha Christie, Teju Cole, and Heironymous Bosch.

On this journey through the labyrinthine streets and hidden corners of one of the world's most fascinating cities, everybody is searching for something, and maybe searching in the wrong places. Elements of the fantastical and the surreal abound, as they tend to do in the early pre-dawn hours of the morning, yet the settings, the human stories, and each character's search are all as real as can be.

Goodnight Tokyo offers readers a unique and intimate take on Tokyo as seen through the eyes of a large cast of colorful characters. Their lives, as disparate and as far apart as they may seem, are in fact intricately interconnected, and their fates converge against the backdrop of the city's neon-lit streets and quiet alleyways. In his English-language debut, Yoshida masterfully portrays in captivating and lyrical prose the complexities of human relationships, the mystery of human connection, and the universal quest for meaning."

Like the modern literary equivalent of Night on Earth, the Jim Jarmusch film.

Totality by Kim Harrison
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 143 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a solar eclipse opens a way between our world and a paranormal realm, and the dark side of first contact emerges, one woman’s loyalties will be tested in this gripping serialized adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Hollows series.

Dr. Renee Caisson never expected that her scientific expertise would lead to a role playing interpreter between humans and the demonic-looking Neighbors. When the door between their worlds opened, she was drafted by the government to study the otherworldly beings and was able to prove her theory: the Neighbors had been to Earth before - and now they simply wanted to save their dying planet.

At least, that's the story, and everyone - both human and Neighbor - is sticking to it. The Neighbor in charge of the new portal's operation, Noel, isn't that sure anymore. Having succeeded in finding a new planet to inhabit, the leaders of her world have made the dark truth of their existence clear to her: the Neighbors forcibly tried to make a foothold on Earth in the past - and they can't afford to fail again.

But the Neighbors' ability to magically teleport from place to place has convinced Major Jackson that the only way to keep control of the situation is to embrace it and tell the world of the Neighbors' existence.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees."

Phase two! And only a week after phase one! I love this weekly serialization! 

Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
Published by: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 576 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and The Water Knife comes a sweeping literary fantasy about the young scion from a ruling-class family who faces rebellion as he ascends to power.

"You must be as sharp as a stilettotore's dagger and as subtle as a fish beneath the waters. This is what it is to be Navolese, this is what it is to be di Regulai."

In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family - merchant bankers with a vast empire - has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese diplomacy: knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur - like the fossilized dragon eye in the family's possession, a potent symbol of their raw power and a talisman that seems to be summoning Davico to act.

As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits. His fate depends on the eldritch dragon relic and on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister, Celia di Balcosi, whose own family was destroyed by Nalova's twisted politics. With echoes of Renaissance Italy, The Godfather, and Game of Thrones, Navola is a stunning feat of world-building and a mesmerizing depiction of drive and will."

Who wouldn't want to read about a world like Italy during the Renaissance but with dragons?

All This and More by Peng Shepherd
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The Cartographers and The Book of M comes an inventive new novel about a woman who wins the chance to rewrite every mistake she's ever made... and how far she'll go to find her elusive "happily ever after." But there's a twist: the reader gets to decide what she does next to change her fate.

One woman. Endless options. Every choice has consequences.

Meek, play-it-safe Marsh has just turned forty-five, and her life is in shambles. Her career is stagnant, her marriage has imploded, and her teenage daughter grows more distant by the day. Marsh is convinced she's missed her chance at everything - romance, professional fulfillment, and adventure - and is desperate for a do-over.

She can't believe her luck when she's selected to be the star of the global sensation All This and More, a show that uses quantum technology to allow contestants the chance to revise their pasts and change their present lives. It's Marsh's only shot to seize her dreams, and she's determined to get it right this time.

But even as she rises to become a famous lawyer, gets back together with her high school sweetheart, and travels the world, she begins to worry that All This and More's promises might be too good to be true. Because while the technology is amazing, something seems a bit off....

Can Marsh really make her life everything she wants it to be? And is it worth it?

Perfect for fans of Matt Haig's The Midnight Library and Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, bestselling author Peng Shepherd's All This and More is an utterly original, startlingly poignant novel that puts the reader in the driver's seat."

Yes, it is original, so don't compare it to The Midnight Library. Damn I hated that book.

London in Black by Jack Lutz
Published by: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A ticking-bomb and an edgy female detective offers an explosive debut set in near-future London and a "gripping, gritty, and timely police procedural destined to be a bestseller." (Independent Ireland)

Detective Inspector Lucy Stone's life was changed forever when terrorists deployed a lethal nerve gas at Waterloo Station, killing 10% of London's population. Lucy should have died - but she didn't, all because of something she'll spend the rest of her life atoning for.

Two years later, copy-cat strikes plague the city. When London's most important scientist is brutally murdered, Lucy discovers he may have been working on an antidote to the chemical weapon. But time is running out. Will Lucy find the antidote - and catch the killer - before it's too late?"

I like the lethal nerve gas attack on London which reminds me of Bodies. 

The Unforgettable Loretta Darling by Katherine Blake
Published by: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An aspiring makeup artist takes on predatory Hollywood in this addictive debut novel with bite - a sultry, thrilling blend of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Killing Eve, and A Promising Young Woman.

It's 1950 and Loretta Reynolds is newly arrived in Hollywood, fresh off a con that brought her from England to the sunny shores of California. She's running away from a complicated past to fulfill her ambition of becoming a makeup artist to the stars.

When her new husband, a would-be actor, takes her to a sex-fueled Hollywood party on their wedding night - hoping to trade her to a powerful director for a favor - she discovers the dark side of Tinseltown and sets out on a path of revenge against the cruel men who use their money and power to play with lives and dreams.

In her quest for vengeance, Loretta gathers a band of La-La-Land misfits: a fading starlet past her prime, a friendly neighborhood sex worker, and a brooding screenwriter who proves yes, not all men are evil - just most...

Now, Loretta is about to get her big break - and Hollywood better beware. Loretta has learned a lot about makeup, and more... and some of her clients might not make it out alive."

But hopefully she does, because mentioning Killing Eve and A Promising Young woman has put me on edge...

Blood and Mascara by Colin Krainin
Published by: Pulp Lit
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Iris is watching Bronze.

Bronze is following Carolyn.

Carolyn is sleeping with Billy.

Now Billy is dead and a killer is coming for them all.

Washington, DC, 1997:

A city stumbling toward recovery after a decade of violence, drugs, AIDS, and exodus. Bronze Goldberg - a soft-boiled private detective in a hard-boiled world - scrapes out a living stalking the steps of cheating spouses while bearing the trauma of the past like an open wound. But his latest assignment, surveilling the indiscretions of a stunning femme fatale, has entangled him in the murder of an up-and-coming congressman and made him the target of an unstoppable assassin. Meanwhile, the spiraling chaos of Bronze's dangerous adventures has attracted the obsessive attention of his landlord, Iris Margaryan, a brilliant romance novelist who may hold the missing piece in the puzzle of Bronze's fatal past. Can Bronze survive long enough to reach the ultimate truth?

A gripping noir mystery-both intensely provocative and darkly thrilling - Blood and Mascara descends into the depths of the human soul before exploding in an ending too shocking to ever forget."

I'd think a PI would make a really good living in Washington, DC!

A Refiner's Fire by Donna Leon
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the thirty-third installment of Donna Leon's magnificent series, Commissario Guido Brunetti confronts a present-day Venetian menace and the ghosts of a heroism that never was.

Around one AM on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice's squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni, on duty that night, perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti's memory that twenty years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government.

That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti's colleagues, Enzo Bocchese, by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti's attentions. Surprisingly empowered by Patta, supported by Signorina Elettra's extraordinary research abilities and by his wife, Paola's, empathy, Brunetti, with Griffoni, gradually discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte's past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption.

A Refiner's Fire is Donna Leon at her very best: an elegant, sophisticated storyteller whose indelible characters become richer with each book, and who constantly explores the ambiguity between moral and legal justice."

My Mom sure knew how to pick good mysteries series. This was a favorite of hers.

Ladykiller by Katherine Wood
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone has a story. But not everyone's story is true.

When a young woman vanishes from her remote Greek island estate, her best friend races to find her, using clues found in the explosive manuscript she left behind.

Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. Now thirty, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, entertaining glamorous guests with champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun, while bookish Abby is working fourteen-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby's thrilled to reconnect.

But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia's brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn't there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia's beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. Gia's narrative reveals the dark truth about her provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of their seductive guests, a story almost too scandalous to be believed. But the pages end abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

How much of Gia's story is true? Where is she now? And will Abby find her before it's too late?"

The dark gritty reboot of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants I've longed for!

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lenny Marks is excellent at not having a life.

She bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns thirty-six copies of The Hobbit (currently arranged by height). The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching Friends reruns.

And Lenny Marks is very, very good at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared when she was still a child. The day a voice in the back of her mind started whispering, You did this.

Until a letter from the parole board arrives in the mail - and when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel. As long-buried memories come to the surface, Lenny's careful routines fall apart. For the first time, she finds herself forced to connect with the community around her, and unexpected new relationships begin to bloom. Lenny Marks may finally get a life - but what if her past catches up to her first?

Equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, Kerryn Mayne's stunning debut is an irresistible novel about truth, secrets, vengeance, and family lost and found, with a heroine who's simply unforgettable."

It's bad I want Lenny's life right? I mean, before the letter from the parole board arrives...

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, and the wild legacy of trauma and inheritance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble.

"Were we gangsters? No. But did we know how to start a fire?"

In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.

But now, nearly forty years later, it's clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband's emotional health. Their three grown children aren't doing much better: Nathan's chronic fear won't allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything - substance, foodstuff, women - in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she's not a product of her family's pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives' successes and failures.

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family's history, winding through decades and generations, all the way to the outrageous present, and confronting the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the terror of history, fear of the future, old wives' tales, evil eyes, ambition, achievement, boredom, dybbuks, inheritance, pyramid schemes, right-wing capitalists, beta-blockers, psychics, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unite a family forever."

Because it's true when they say, money can't buy you everything... Even if it saved your life at one time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Atsuhiro Yoshida, Cari Thomas, Colin Krainin, Donna Leon, Jack Lutz, Juneau Black, Katherine Blake, Katherine Wood, Kerryn Mayne, Kim Harrison, Paolo Bacigalupi, Peng Shepherd, Sarah Beth Durst

Born to Be Posthumous by Mark Dery
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

In 1980 the world became aware of Edward Gorey. His unique style of pen and ink drawing with only a splash of read suited Masterpiece Theatre's spinoff, Mystery!, to a tee and everyone was watching. The opening credits animated by Derek Lamb are iconic. What's more the sets the various hosts used were designed by Gorey, much like his Broadway production of Dracula three years earlier for which he won a Tony. He became known as the king of the macabre. Without him there would be no Tim Burton, no Neil Gaiman, no Lemony Snicket, though perhaps we could have done without Lemony Snicket. His cultural impact has not waned since his death in 2000. Thanks to the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and Pomegranate Communications his name and his work are constantly available. But while he really came to the forefront thanks to PBS he had been making a name for himself in New York since the fifties. The young Gorey was a prodigy, growing up throughout the Chicago area. His scholarships to various Ivy League schools had to be deferred due to the war and he served at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. In 1946 he finally entered Harvard majoring in French Literature, because if you're going to read the great and melodramatic French novels you have to read them in French. In an interesting twist of fate he would room with Frank O'Hara who would also go on to be a darling of the literary world. But it wasn't just books that interested Gorey, it was all art, theatre, ballet, poetry, prose. His academic career was rocky, it all depended on if he was interested at the time in what he was doing. When he was he'd be on the Dean's List, when he wasn't, he was threatened with expulsion. His actual training in art was negligible. But that is what he'd go on to be known for, not writing some obscure commentary on French Literature. After college he got a job illustrating book covers for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor. Covers that are iconic to this day. Especially his vibrant cover for The War of the Worlds. At the end of his tenure there he started to publish little books indepently. Some under his own name, some under cunning psdeynoms and anagrams. Through the Gotham Book Mart he became a bit of a celebrity to those in the know. He was also a man about town, always seen at the New York City Ballet where Balanchine was king. Eventually he settled on Cape Cod where this now internationally famous artist spent time with his cats and making stuffed figures to sell at the local theatre. But no one can say he didn't leave his mark. If only sartorially.

If you want to read about Edward Gorey, this book isn't for you. Literally pick up any book by Edward Gorey and you will get more concrete information and entertainment out of it than this volume. But if you want to read about an author projecting his suppoistions, speculations, and downright crazy conspiracy theories on their subject, then this book is for you. Because Mark Dery has written a book his subject would hate. He has taken a complex and fascinating intellectual and decided to focus on Edward Gorey's sexuality. Hundreds of pages questioning if Gorey was or wasn't gay. It's like Mark Dery needed to make Gorey gay. But more than that, he didn't just want Gorey to be gay, he wanted him to be the victim of sexual assault by the clergy as a child. At least he admits it's pure speculation but he claims that the ominous nature of the clergy in Gorey's stories coupled with the abuses of the Catholic Church in Chicago when Gorey was growing up point to his insights as being accurate. What the fuck? It's one thing to postulate on sexuality, it's another to just wholey fabricate something in a biography without any kind of proof. And I will point out that in Gorey's work, everyone, not just the clergy, are menacing. It's kind of Gorey's M.O. But more to the point is that in a book that is 415 pages long minus the acknowledgements, references, and endnotes, it took Dery until page 410 to include a quote from an interview Gorey did in 1980 with Boston Magazine wherein he said "Well, I'm neither one thing nor the other particularly... I suppose I'm gay. But I don't really identify with it much." HE SAID HE WAS GAY! AND YOU, MARK DERY, KNEW IT! For 99% of this "biography" you made me listen to your speculations when you knew. YOU KNEW! You wrote about something that wasn't even a something. Gorey is an icon, and yes, him being a gay icon is important, but just use HIS WORDS not your fabricated suppositions. But then again, by the end of this book I didn't trust the author at all. He refers to Gorey's work as etchings, which they are not. He should show us the pictures instead of badly describing them but we only get twenty-six badly reproduced pieces completely out of context. And I'm sorry, but I too watched that Dick Cavett interview, and he wasn't fawning over Gorey and his work, he had no freaking idea who Gorey was and Gorey knew it. The only positive to reading this book is it enraged me so much I went back and read all the Amphilgorys and fell in love with Gorey and his work all over again.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Balanchine, Ballet, Book Covers, Born to Be Posthumous, Chicago, Edward Gorey, For the Love of Book Clubs, French Literature, Gay, Harvard, Mark Dery, Masterpiece Theatre, Mystery, Neil Gaiman, New York, Tim Burton

Circe by Madeline Miller
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: April 10th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 393 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Circe's family is divine. Her one companion is her brother, Aeëtes, who is also shunned by their mother. But soon Circe is alone, Aeëtes sent far away, just like all her other siblings. In despair she falls for a mortal, Glaucos. Knowing that she can never have a life with a mortal she begs her grandmother to transform her love into a god. Her grandmother can not help. So Circe uses a secret her brother Aeëtes found and transforms her love using pharmaka. He is welcomed into the family with open arms but he is married off to Scylla, not Circe. Circe once again uses pharmaka and transforms Scylla into a monster. Her own father, Helios, doesn't believe that Circe is that powerful. But Aeëtes does. He tells their father that he and his sister are pharmakis. Witches. Due to willingly searching out pharmaka, which are magical herbs that grow from blood spilled when the Titans and Olympians battled, Circe is exiled to the island of Aiaia. There she hones her craft and luxuriates in the freedom of exile. No longer alone among her family but alone with herself. Though Hermes brings her distressing news, Scylla is the terror of the seas. When the opportunity arises to leave her island she tries to stop Scylla but just sees the horror she has wrought. More horror awaits her as she acts as midwife to her sister who births the Minotaur. Returning to Aiaia she is lonelier than ever, though family occasionally pass through. Always with demands. But at least they don't pose the danger of man. The captain of a lost ship rapes her. She starts taking the precaution of turning all sailors into pigs. But Odysseus is different. He's smart and witty and a born storyteller. When he finally departs she is pregnant with his child, Telegonus. She hides him away for years and years until he builds himself a boat and goes and kills his father. Accidentally. When he returns home he brings with him Odysseus' wife, Penelope, and her son, Telemachus, seeking her protection. But perhaps her island isn't a refuge but a crutch. A place to hide from the world. Now, perhaps, with Telemachus by her side, she might see the world.

Every once in awhile I have this almost uncontrollable urge to read Homer. In recent years this is because Tasha Alexander's wondrous creation, Lady Emily, is always espousing reading him. In the original Greek. And if there's one person in life that it wouldn't be bad to emulate, it's Lady Emily. She's smart, witty, and well educated. Something we all wish we were. This is one of the reasons I was so excited to read Circe. Here I could dip my toe back in the Aegean while getting to see Odysseus through the female gaze. And while I wasn't the member of my book club who mentally checked out as soon as there were people with blue skin, I quickly remembered why I don't read Homer. I hate Odysseus. With a passion. I don't know what makes me forget this information and then keep trying to reread the Odyssey, but it's a hate the likes of which Mrs. White would sympathize. I read the Odyssey in freshman English and I detested it. Odysseus is just everything wrong with men. I just can't with him. The first time I fooled myself into thinking that I couldn't have hated the Odyssey as much as I thought was when NBC did a prestige miniseries in 1997 staring Armand Assante and Greta Scacchi. The real reason I was interested in it is because Jim Henson's Creature Shop did the special effects but that's just extraneous information. I didn't make it through the miniseries. I don't think I even made it through part one. And Odysseus is the reason I didn't like Circe. This isn't her story. It's his. And his. And his. And his. There is no insight into her unless you call a woman's entire life being formed around the men in it revolutionary, well, then I guess that's an insight, but personally I'd say, welcome to womanhood... Especially around 12th or 13th century BCE. I just can't understand why people are saying this is such a powerful and feminist book. Did we read the same book? Because her life is blighted by men and in the end she sacrifices everything for a man and it's never about her it's about them. This is just the Odyssey from another point of view without any depth. I don't care if there are blue skinned people, I don't care if Odysseus had to make a cameo, I do care that this is being praised as revolutionary writing when it's just the same old thing. This could have been something. But it wasn't. Stop deluding yourself that it was.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Armand Assante, Circe, For the Love of Book Clubs, Freshman English, Greece, Greta Scacchi, High School, Homer, Jim Henson, Lady Emily, Madeline Miller, Men, Miniseries, Odysseus, Odyssey, Tasha Alexander, Womanhood

Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In her most imaginative novel yet, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell (None of This Is True) launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell's Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night's poor choices. But something about Amber Randall's story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don't act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something "perfect."

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins' new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother's intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect - not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favorite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura."

Oh my, Lisa Jewell and Jessica Jones together!?! It's like peanut butter and chocolate, a combination we've longed for and is now a classic.

The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris
Published by: Pegasus Books
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Joanne Harris comes a richly imagined and captivating novel of two colliding worlds.

Deep in the heart of London, a young photographer named Tom Argent walks the streets and captures whatever catches his eye: an old man drinking coffee; a striking woman sipping champagne in St. Pancras station; a cloud of moths taking flight across the sky. He's orphaned, lonely, and lost in his work. He certainly has no intention of falling in love.

And yet, love finds him in the shape of beautiful Vanessa, who lives a dangerous double life in the heart of the city. Tom's pursuit of Vanessa leads him to discover an alternate world, hiding in plain sight among the streets and rooftops of London. A world unseen by common folk and inhabited by strange and colorful beings, in which two warring factions - one nocturnal, one in the light - wage war for the sake of a long-lost love, which can only end with one side's total annihilation.

The Moonlight Market will enchant readers with new worlds and epic romance and in this captivating modern fairytale about what could be hiding in the corner of your eye."

No one does magical realism like Joanne Harris.

First Contact by Kim Harrison
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Kindle, 168 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the wake of the solar eclipse, a portal between our world and a paranormal realm opens - and a scientist's life will never be the same, in this thrilling serialized adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hollows.

Dr. Renee Caisson knows there are worse things than an attractive man in uniform drafting her into a secret government project - especially when Major Jackson makes it clear that he isn't bothered by her questionable past. But when her labs come back with decidedly odd results, the Major is forced to come clean over who the government is actually studying. Renee is shocked to learn her subjects are demonic-looking beings who call themselves "Neighbors" - refugees from a dying world, who arrived during the nation-wide solar eclipse.

The Neighbors' technology is unlike anything Renee's ever encountered. At first, she dismisses an injury that inexplicably heals as "just one of those things." And surely August, the most gregarious Neighbor, begins to speak English overnight because of the team linguist's skills?"

Get ready to see this serialized story featured for the next three weeks!

Gin Palace by Tracy Whitwell
Published by: Pan Publishing
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Tracy Whitwell's second novel Gin Palace picks up with the main character, Tanz, from The Accidental Medium, as she grows accustomed to her rather unusual gift...

Tanz can talk to ghosts, although she'd prefer it if she couldn't. Struggling to make ends meet as an actress and wholly unsuited to supply teaching, Tanz is only one bad day away from a meltdown. And the babbling ghosts aren't helping.

So when Tanz is offered a paid acting gig in her hometown, things start to look up. But Newcastle's dead won't stay quiet for long, and soon Tanz becomes haunted with visions of a mysterious Gin Palace guarded by a sinister figure. As Tanz starts to piece together a terrible tragedy, it becomes clear there's no limit to what the poltergeist will do to keep his secrets his own.

Unfortunately, he's never met anyone quite like Tanz before..."

Hometown ghosts are the worst.

The Shadow on the Glass by Jonathan L. Howard
Published by: Aconyte
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When two spiritist swindlers accidentally summon something horrific from beyond the stars, they must thwart a sinister time-spanning plot, in this first Victorian-era gaslight fantasy set in the world of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu.

London, 1891. Elizabeth Whittle and William Grant enjoy scalping London's bourgeoisie, taking on the personas of grand spiritist Cerulia Trent and her agent to connect the living and the dead. When a detective arrives, sniffing out fraud with a scientifically minded spiritualist society, the duo decides to take one last job before escaping to the continent. However, their final séance ends horrifically...and soon Lizzie isn't Lizzie anymore. William, desperate to banish whatever monster they summoned, is soon embroiled in an electrifying eldritch mystery where he makes a deal with the devil to save his friend and stop an even greater evil from transforming the known world."

Spiritualists are my catnip, combining it with Cthulhu is a genius trap to lure me in.

Herald of Ruin by Tim Pratt
Published by: Aconyte
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
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The official patter:
"The enigmatic Carl Sanford is the master of all things occult in Arkham, until a charismatic newcomer threatens to take everything away from him in this dark mystery set in the world of Arkham Horror.

Carl Sanford's mastery of the Silver Twilight Lodge gives him unbridled power and influence, but unforeseen turmoil is coming to Arkham... A new occult curiosity shop in the city, opened by newcomer Randall Tillinghast, draws Sanford's ire, challenging his formerly unrivalled authority. Sanford expects to crush the newcomer like an ant and take what he wants from the wreckage, but Randall Tillinghast isn't quite as humble and harmless as he seems. In possession of an array of magical artifacts, Tillinghast begins to subvert Sanford's reputation in more ways than one, forcing Carl Sanford to call all the monsters and magic at his disposal to stop him. Will it be enough?"

Oh my, occult curiosity shop? Yes please!

The Mummy of Mayfair by Jeri Westerson
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Private investigators Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson take on another unusual and baffling case in Victorian London when a mummy unwrapping party takes a chilling turn.

London, 1895. Although their last high-profile case was a huge success, private detectives Tim Badger and Benjamin Watson know they can't afford to turn down any work, despite financial assistance from their mentor, Sherlock Holmes.

So when the eminent Doctor Enoch Sawyer of St. Bart's Hospital asks Badger if the duo will provide security for a mummy unwrapping party he is hosting, Badger doesn't hesitate to take the job. After all, how hard can guarding the doctor's bizarre Egyptian artifacts be? But with Doctor Sawyer running late for his own party, the 'genuine' ancient sarcophagus of Runihura Saa is unravelled to reveal the remains of...Doctor Sawyer! Suddenly, the pair are drawn into a case that's stranger and twistier than they could ever have imagined."

Wait, isn't this the setup used for an episode of Murder Rooms? OK, it was a corpse but not the host's own corpse. Which I thought would always be a great twist. So read this!

Murder in Punch Lane by Jane Sullivan
Published by: Echo
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Kindle, 326 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Melbourne, 1868. When dazzling theatre star Marie St. Denis dies in the arms of her best friend, fellow actress Lola Sanchez, everyone believes it was suicide by laudanum overdose. Everyone except Lola. On the brink of stardom herself, she risks everything by embarking on a quest to find Marie's killer.

When journalist Magnus Scott, writing as 'the Walking Gentleman', publishes a compassionate obituary about her friend, Lola decides to seek his help. A fraught attraction develops between these two amateur detectives from opposite sides of society, and their volatile relationship soon begins to compromise their investigation.

Lola keeps a secret from Magnus. She traverses the corrupt underbelly of the brash young metropolis just as he does, but disguised as a boy, entering dangerous, forbidden spaces where the lives of the rich and privileged intersect with the city's underclass and outsiders: bohemians, theatre folk, prostitutes, down-and-outs and opium addicts.

Neither are prepared for the truths they will uncover about the powers that rule Melbourne - or the consequences for their own lives. And now they must race to find the murderer before the city destroys them both."

I have become obsessed with Australia lately, especially anything set in Melbourne.

A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other - a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.

When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he's thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he'll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes...

But at Essex, Cal's classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent, and can't believe he's never left the country, or heard of The Hamptons. Cal, at his breaking point, is about to give up and return to Mississippi when he learns about a secret society on campus - the key to becoming Essex royalty.

Cal knows he's not exactly secret society material, but to his surprise, he finds an unlikely champion in the handsome, charismatic, and slightly dangerous Luke Kim. As they get swept up in the mystery and glamour of the Rush process, Cal finds himself falling in love for the first time.

But as the initiation rituals grow riskier - and increasingly nefarious - Cal must decide how far he's willing to go, and how much of himself he's willing to sacrifice, to save everything and everyone he cherishes most. Because nothing at Essex - not even Cal's first love - is quite what it seems."

Wait, because until recently I had a janky old iPhone 6 would that mean I'd be looked down on? Team Cal!

Illustrated Girl by Josephine Angelini
Published by: Sungrazer Publishing
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From bestselling author Josephine Angelini comes a whimsical cozy fantasy read with loads of adventure and none of the triggers. Perfect for fans of Olivia Atwater and Travis Baldree.

Ever wish you could travel inside your favorite book and become the main character? Of course you have. Everyone has. But if you ever manage to pull it off, here's a tip. Timing is everything...

Take Holly for example, who after saying a spell is transported inside a fairytale called The Chronicles of Lucitopia, a magical world infested with grifter grandmas, halitosis-riddled bandits, and devoid of any functioning toilets.

Holly becomes Princess Pleasant exactly as she wished, but she gets there too late, right after an evil sorcerer turns Lucitopia into a tetanus-ridden hellhole. And now, it's up to Holly to make things right.

With the help of a freakishly handsome, yet frustratingly virtuous knight, Holly sets out to fix her story, but she only has fifteen days left to do so or she risks being stuck in Lucitopia for the rest of her life, which may prove to be a short one considering she's overdue for her shots."

Hey I just got my tetanus, I'll take her place, I'm good for ten years!

The Women of Wynton's by Donna Mumma
Published by: Barbour Fiction
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mid-Century Glam Meets Murder Mayhem.

Get swept away to the glamor of a 1950's department store where four women's loyalties, vanity, friendship, and detective skills are put to the test.

Audrey Penault once led a glamorous life as a model but now works as devoted secretary to Mr. Wynton. To her fellow employees, she is too vain and uppity.

Mary Jo Johnson, a wife and mother, longs to find her worth in the cosmetics department, but it may take a while for the shy housewife to discover her voice.

Vivian Sheffield owns and runs the bridal salon within Wynton's. She is proud of her accomplishments and won't let anyone take them away.

Gigi Woodard dislikes her job as waitress in the store's lunchroom, but she is determined not to let her secret shortcomings cause her to lose the position.

These four women have much to dislike about each other, but they unanimously agree that Mr. Wynton is the best of employers and must be protected at all costs from someone who seems determined to see him gone for good. When other employee deaths occur, can the women band together to solve the murders, or will they discover it is one of their own bent on destroying Wynton's from within?"

Anyone else love vintage murders set in period department stores? I know I can't be the only one loving very specific episodes of Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries and Endeavour! 

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this charming and emotionally resonant follow up to the internationally bestselling Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Satoshi Yagisawa paints a poignant and thoughtful portrait of life, love, and how much books and bookstores mean to the people who love them.

Set again in the beloved Japanese bookshop and nearby coffee shop in the Jimbochi neighborhood of Toyko, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop deepens the relationship between Takako, her uncle Satoru, and the people in their lives. A new cast of heartwarming regulars have appeared in the shop, including an old man who wears the same ragged mouse-colored sweater and another who collects books solely for the official stamps with the author's personal seal.

Satoshi Yagisawa illuminates the everyday relationships between people that are forged and grown through a shared love of books. Characters leave and return, fall in and out of love, and some eventually die. As time passes, Satoru, with Takako's help, must choose whether to keep the bookshop open or shutter its doors forever. Making the decision will take uncle and niece on an emotional journey back to their family's roots and remind them again what a bookstore can mean to an individual, a neighborhood, and a whole culture."

Damn, I love bookstores.

Meet Me at the Starlight by Rachel Hauck
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Eighties supermodel Harlow Hayes seeks solace in a quaint Florida beach town to hide and heal from a heartbreak that shattered her entire world. To her surprise, she encounters Matt Knight - a Hollywood A-lister with a bad-boy reputation - who has returned to his hometown to help his plucky grandmother, Tuesday, save her century-old skating rink, the Starlight.

The Starlight holds a special place in the hearts of the community, once acting as a refuge for Depression-era families and bringing the town together with gatherings and celebrations. Tuesday's determination and resilience even protected her beloved rink from her husband's shady business dealings. Yet when the Starlight is threatened with demolition, Tuesday may not be able to stop it.

As Matt and Harlow plot with Tuesday to save the Starlight, they find themselves on a journey of surprises, self-discovery, and the kind of healing that leads to love.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck weaves a heartfelt tale of romance, perseverance, and the enduring power of community."

Damn, I miss skating rinks.

My Lady's Secrets by Katy Moran
Published by: Aria
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2024
Format: Kindle, 282 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Regency England.

When rebellious aristocrat Cressida and Lord Greville parted ways, they swore never to meet again. Their short marriage had already descended into bitter estrangement, destroyed by scandal and betrayal.

Years later, Greville is a soldier in the Peninsular War and Cressida is following the drum as another man's lover. Scorned by society, she has learned to survive as a spy - until the day she is caught behind enemy lines, by none other than Greville himself.

Threatened with paying the ultimate price, Cressida is offered a deal: she must entrap and betray the most famous man in England. And Greville, unforgiving, angry and still shockingly attractive, must ensure she complies.

Catapulted to the heights of fame, Lord Byron is just as chaotic, charming and ruthless as he was when he, Greville and Cressida were teenagers. As the three old friends gather for a summer house party in the Scottish Highlands, Cressida is forced to confront her past and ask herself a terrifying question: is it too late for she and Greville to fight for one another at last?"

A Regency house party with Lord Byron!?! Hell yes!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Derek Milman, Donna Mumma, Jane Sullivan, Jeri Westerson, Joanne Harris, Jonathan L. Howard, Josephine Angelini, Katy Moran, Kim Harrison, Lisa Jewell, Rachel Hauck, Satoshi Yagisawa, Tim Pratt, Tracy Whitwell

Underland by Robert Macfarlane
Published by: W.W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Humankind has had such an impact on the world it is now a designated epoch, the Anthropocene. Robert Macfarlane takes it on himself to look at the forgotten realms of the Earth and see how they have been impacted by humankind and in turn how they have impacted us. Macfarlane takes eleven journeys to come to grips with the underland. Because that is where our history is, in deep time. With all that history laid bare the question is posited, are we really the caretakers that the Earth deserves? Humans have been around for such a short amount of time and yet the damage we have done is incalculable. Starting near his home his first journey takes him to the cave systems in the Mendips in Somerset. There he wonders if the Earth might just swallow him whole. The mental strain of the dangers he's about to face become apparent. He's not just taxing himself physically on these journeys, but mentally. He is placing himself at the mercy of the Earth and the Earth isn't kind to those who journey where they shouldn't. In Boulby, Yorkshire, he visits a mine that's so deep that it goes under the North Sea where Dark Matter is studied. So far underland as to be undisturbed by the disturbances of man. But the underland can also be studied above ground. The trees of Epping Forest have an understory beneath the forest that lets them communicate using fungi, a wood wide web if you will. Having experienced in England some of the great natural and manmade conduits to the underland he visits France and perhaps one of the most famous underground spaces in the world, the Paris Catacombs. There are the sections that are for tourists, but that isn't what he's interested in. He's reached out to urban explorers, those who map the terrain of abandoned buildings and have therefore taken a great interest in the Catacombs. Those who illegally tour the mines of Paris which were built for the access of workers are called cataphiles. They take Macfarlane on a journey he will never forget. Rooms that haven't been seen in hundreds of years and modern graffiti that seems to exist solely to say, I was here. The underland is vast, there are starless rivers, nuclear dumps, caves that can only be accessed at certain times of the year. Robert Macfarlane tasks himself to record it all, to pass on what he's learned, and to teach us to be better stewards of this amazing planet.

For me I had a problem with a disconnect between what this book was sold as and what it actually is. Underland was said to deliver "an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself." What I really connected to in that teaser was the myth and literature part. Which Robert Macfarlane never really addresses. I mean, come on! Book girl here wants to hear all about the underworld in literature. He barely touches on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and that one is just a gimme! What about all the tales of the realms of fairies being underground? Underhill anyone anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Fairy Mounds? Fairy Forts? I mean seeing as this book is about the magic of the Earth and what it means to people I think an exploration of how we've peopled that land in our myths and fairy tales would be quite important. But again, the book was sold as something it was not. The problem being my expectations were repeatedly crushed. I kept thinking, oh, the next section, that will be the section I've been waiting for. And if never was. Therefore I think that this book would be better on a reread. I'd have no expectations because I know what it's about and they'd be reigned in. The problem is I'm rather claustrophobic, and well, I don't know if I could read this book again. If there's one thing I'd tell anyone who was about to read this book, besides ranting about literary tradition being omitted, is that if you are even slightly claustrophobic you can not read this book. My Dad has a friend who told him he had to read this book, knowing that my claustrophobia is nothing compared to my Dad's, I laughed and laughed and said he can never read this book. Ever. I even thought, maybe I could find a section he could read... But no. Claustrophobics, run away run away. And I just realized I reached the point in my review where I'm just doing odd movie quotes so will move this along, no more Monty Python. The other problem I faced was while this is a whole interconnected narrative it's basically broken down into stories. Short stories. I don't really like short stories. There's no consistency. So while I loved "Invisible Cities (Paris)," "Red Dancers (Lofoten, Norway)" left me cold. The journeys he went on were so diverse that his writing style was inconsistent and annoying. To me. I can see why others found it magical, I just found it highly competent. Which, trust me, is a compliment.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Anthropocene, Claustrophobic, Deep Time, Earth, Fairy Tales, For the Love of Book Clubs, Literature, Paris Catacombs, Robert MacFarlane, Underground, Underland, Urban Explorers

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest
Published by: Bella Forrest
Publication Date: August 27th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 402 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

When you spend years bouncing around the foster care system you really don't have any recourse when you start to develop magical abilities. This is beyond the typical inheritance of blood type and eye color and the likelihood of developing cancer. This is something "other." But Harley Merlin has learned to roll with the punches. Sure, she can sense people's emotions, that just makes her a valuable asset to a local casino. She can pinpoint anyone cheating, a skill most pit bosses would kill for. At the age of nineteen she's kind of given up on ever finding anyone like herself so when an actual gargoyle attacks her and a warlock helps save her ass one night after work her eyes are opened. She's not alone. Only the arrogant Wade Crowley might not be the best guide to this new world. He has issues, mainly a severe superiority complex. He gives her his card and tells her she has twenty four hours to call him and turn herself into the San Diego coven. Harley wonders if she could ignore the summons. Or she could run. Leave San Diego behind. After realizing there's no escaping him, he is persistently annoying, they meet up at the Fleet Science Center which hides the entrance to the coven. She is given a magical infodump and tour. Harley is tested and possess a wide range of skills but doesn't have the power to be anything other than mediocre. Yet they will still train her to properly use her abilities to the extent that she can. The most interesting aspect of the coven is their Bestiary. This magical menagerie of monsters might seem harmless, but the gargoyle that attacked Harley was one of its numbers. Which means not only does someone want to kill her, it's someone in the coven who knew about her before she knew about herself. Which means she has to look to her past. She has to find some information about the parents that abandoned her when she was just three years old. Her legacy and heritage is darker than she could have ever imagined, it's no wonder someone is out for her blood. But her new coven will protect her. They will find out who's behind the attacks. They will form teams and get to the bottom of things. Because she is one of them. Whether she likes it or not.

The real "secret" of Harley Merlin is how Bella Forrest wrote twenty-one books in five years. The answer is obviously she didn't but it wasn't "public" knowledge yet. Back when I read this book in 2019 there were only twelve books in the series but the math of one author writing it all just didn't add up. In fact my book club tried to do the math and we calculated that she would have to be writing constantly just to meet her deadlines. And that's just writing, no editing, no rewriting, just wordcount alone. So we knew there had to be ghostwriters. Since then it has come out that we were indeed correct. In a lawsuit filed in the Bahamas it came out that "Bella Forrest" is a team of freelance ghostwriters and there was a dispute over who owned the "name" which was really more of a brand at this point and Amazon pulled the books from their site. At this point there seems to have been a verdict but it's just hearsay backed up by some possibly related court documents and I'm not sure if anything is resolved because you still can't get the books on Amazon but you can from the official author site... But is that official site the "real" author? It's anyone's guess. Plus it looks like the entire catalog was bought and a Bella Forrest Publishing imprint has been created as of the beginning of this year. I don't have the inclination to go down this rabbit hole at this moment in time, but if you're interested in doing some online sleuthing of your own, be my guest. Reddit oddly has some good theories. Also I'm not judging Bella Forrest for employing ghostwriters, it happens more than you think. All I'm saying is if you're an author and someone else helps you write a book just give them credit. Be like James Patterson. The real reason for me airing my grievances here is I loved this Bella Forrest book, Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven, the second one, Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins, not so much. So I want to know who wrote the one I liked. Seriously, who had this deliciously snarky voice that just spoke to me? That wrote this book that arrived at just the right time in my life. A book that was just fun and occasionally goofy and really, didn't make much sense, but filled a magical void in me that needed filling. And now that I reread that it sounds dirty. It's not. It's just a case of the right book at the right time and I would like to know who really wrote it, that is all. Internet sleuths, if you do know, drop me a line!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bella Forrest, For the Love of Book Clubs, Gargoyles, Ghostwriting, Harley Merlin, Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven, Harry Potter Pastiche, James Patterson, Lawsuit, Magic, San Diego Coven, Wade Crowley