BOTM book haul bliss and so much more!

Well, despite the troubling news of the day(which is pretty much every day at this point!), the best way to keep your spirits up is with some good books on hand, if you ask me.

Fortunately, Book of the Month Club had plenty to offer this month, starting with their Book of the Year prize going to Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore that was my free selection-congrats to the author and happy to have this chance to see what climate fiction is like!

For my main selection, Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser was an instant must-have for me. This take on the Cinderella story has the “wicked” stepmother being more of a practical person as the death of her second husband leaves their family in genteel poverty.

When her standoff-ish stepdaughter Elin wins the hand of the local prince, Tremaine is suspicious about the sudden rush to marriage and begins to uncover a deep secret that may expose this fairy tale kingdom to a rather grim reality. More importantly, perhaps a secret worth keeping for the right price…

I do like fairy tale reimaginings and this element of court politics into the mix has a rather appealing flair.  Also, it’s a debut novel that promises to be the belle of the bookish ball this season worth adding to my dance card:

Among the add-ons, I was thrilled to find B.K. Borison’s And Now, Back to You , her latest romance set in the same world as First Time Caller (a BOTY contender, btw!).

Here, we meet Deliah, an upbeat TV reporter whose charms are lost on Jackson, who covers traffic and weather with a very opposite attitude.

When a major snowstorm is set to hit the area, Deliah and Jackson are paired up by their bosses to cover the impact at a mountain retreat several miles away. Stuck together during the storm seems to bring out the best in both of them but a sudden kiss changes everything.

While that snowed in situation brought them closer together, once they get back home, discovering if those romantic sparks were simply seasonal or the start of am emotionally roaring fire proves to be challenging indeed.

Having already enjoyed FTC and more recently, Good Spirits (the latter is also getting a follow up that I hope is a future BOTM selection), I know that this will be a good time with some twists and turns that can make for an unpredictable storytelling storm of delight:

To make this a solid quartet of reading, my last add-on was Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett.

The title owner of this feline haven  lives in Montreal during the 1920s and for the most part, has no real interest in the growing rivalry between various wizards and magicians within the city.

However, when damage has been done to her current cat dwelling due to a spell slinging bout, Agnes scrambles to relocate before the worst of winter is upon them. The only acceptable available space for Agnes and her beloved kitties is under the control of Havelock, a powerful sorcerer who happens to run a magical speakeasy of sorts in the building’s basement.

Willing to overlook the illegal spell trade going on around her, Agnes and her sister Elise are happy to be back in the cat adoption business yet things are not as pleasant as they seem. 

For one, Agnes is torn between mourning the loss of her husband two years ago and yet finding herself interested romantically in Havelock(and the police detective going after him as well). For another, the safety of her kitty clientele may be in jeopardy with more and more of the rival magicians flocking to her new location. Can Agnes find balance in her personal life and professional calling or must one give way to the other?

I did read the first of Fawcett’s acclaimed Emily Wilde series and it was vastly entertaining. While I didn’t continue with those books, this new series feels more up my alley, especially as an unapologetic cat lady who feeds both indoor and outdoor kitties locally!

This book is being compared to the modern classic anime film Howl’s Moving Castle and while I haven’t seen that movie, the vibes are strongly appealing here. Perhaps this novel will inspire a viewing of that enchanting tale as well:

My book buying didn’t end there; I also went to Better World Books and picked up a nice copy of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Bewitching.

Grad student Minerva is thrilled to be researching her favorite writer Beatrice Tremblay while attending the very same college that Tremblay has attended and possibly found inspiration for her best known work.

When Beatrice was a student in 1934, her roommate Virginia went missing amidst claims of being pursued by otherworldly creatures. As Minerva looks into that portion of Tremblay’s life, it appears that some of the studies being held by students and faculty alike may have opened a door to a realm that was too dangerous for mere mortals to venture into.

Recalling the many tales about witches that her grandmother Alba told her as a child, Minerva decides to seek the truth about what happened to Virginia before that strange fate falls upon her as well.

This novel received great critical praise along with wonderful word of mouth but when I looked into this book’s origins, it was interesting to learn that Moreno-Garcia sites Shirley Jackson as a major influence for this work.

Granted, I am mostly familiar with the film adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, plus her famous short story The Lottery and her novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle yet Jackson’s eerily subtle approach to horror feels more modern as time goes by. Moreno-Garcia’s spin on that style should be amazing to behold here:

So, I’m doing my best to spread pop culture joy even in the midst of our collective daily horror show these days and while there’s much to be done, helping each other out in whatever ways we can(and that are available to us) is a small yet powerful thing. It may not seem like much but a touch of decency in a corrupt world has a ripple effect that ultimately reveals itself for the better.

Meanwhile, I intend to replenish my mental energies this weekend with the Oscars, which hopefully will give us a few excellent surprises in many categories this year. 

My deepest hopes are for Sinners to make a strong showing (with a record setting number of nominations, my expectations are sky high) and having also seen One Battle After Another, will be fine with some of those wins as well (Sean Penn Does NOT need another Oscar but I think pitting him against his co-star Benecio Del Toro may divide the voting in that particular category).

While I haven’t seen Frankenstein, it should probably pick up a few technical awards (Best Hair and Makeup for sure) and it certainly seems like Jesse Buckley has a lockdown on Best Actress for Hamnet(didn’t see that one either).

My big rooting interest is in the Best Supporting Actress section as I have seen three out of the five performances nominated and will be happy for any one of those ladies to take the award home(if Amy Madigan wins, may she do the signature run to the stage from Weapons that she did on a previous awards show-that would be awesome).

Also looking forward to the performance of “I Lied to You “ from Sinners that promises to echo that pivotal scene from the movie with an incredible ensemble of musical talent scheduled to appear on stage.

 Nothing against the K-Pop Demon Hunters song but Sinners deserves to get the win here! I do agree that all of the Best Song nominees should be included in the performances that night(Diane Warren is the Susan Lucci of this category for whatever reason but her song deserves it’s moment in the spotlight too!).

Despite who wins, loses or just makes a memorable moment, at the very least, we will be gathering together for a positive experience to celebrate the  cinematic arts, which are a reflection on us as a culture and unlike a certain arrogant nominee’s opinion, are rooted in such live experiences such as opera, ballet and the theater that they wouldn’t have existed without them, both then and now.

All in all, this year’s Academy Awards should give us the emotional uplift that we need to keep going during these wild times. 

The arts, in print or performance, have offered us these comforts before and will continue to do so, despite the efforts of a disconcerted few. Pass the popcorn and let’s be united in celebrating true joy: