A Goodreads Choice TBR and a few thoughts about Yesteryear

A sure sign of autumn for most bookish folk is the announcement that voting has begun for the 
 Goodreads Choice Awards , where you get to decide what is the best book of the year in several categories. The opening round started this past Tuesday (with 20 nominees in each section) and the final voting period (down to 10 by then) is expected to begin on November 24, with the winners announced on December 3.

Granted, Goodreads has a love/hate relationship with many readers for various reasons but, also, some of us just find the Choice Awards to be mainly for fun and nothing more than that.

 Critiquing it is fine(not to mention part of the entertainment value) but after the very hectic real life election cycle we’ve been through, this is a relaxing way to wrap up your reading year.

It’s also a great excuse to set up a new To Be Read pile there! While I was happy to find plenty of favorite books to vote for, I did see that there were many others that I do need to get to(yes, a good number of them are Book of the Month selections).

For example, Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser is up for Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut novel, nice going there! This story is a twist on Cinderella as the title stepmother searches for a way to stay connected to her newly wed stepdaughter, who is now a member of the royal family.

That family, however, has a rather nasty secret that this stepmother-in-law could use to her advantage but the price for that may be higher than even she is willing to pay.

I do enjoy an interesting take on villainous characters, especially in fantasy/fairytale settings, and hopefully I will get to turning these delightful pages before my reading list turns into a pumpkin:

Another charming book that I have been meaning to get to is This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page. 

This nominee in Best Romance is set at a bookstore, where widow Tilly has been left quite the birthday present by her late husband.

It seems that he put together a stack of twelve books for her to read over the course of a year, to be handed out by Alfie, the bookshop owner. Each book also comes with a prompt of sorts to encourage Tilly to get out into the world and renew her spirits.

While this does sound sad, the story does have positive energy as it showcases the emotional healing that books can offer people. Not to mention that it’s giving off solid You’ve Got Mail vibes, one of my favorite fall movies, and why have I not read this by now?!:

Now, one of the Choice Awards categories that I really need to catch up on is Fantasy as I have a number of must reads there.

One of those is Ilona Andrews ‘ This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, one of the most talked about books of the year! This first in a series has Maggie, who becomes known as Maggie the Undying in the realm of Kair Toren due to her remarkable resurrection skills. That ability comes from the fact that she’s not supposed to be here at all.

Back in our world, Maggie frequently reread the first two books of her favorite fantasy series, anxiously awaiting for the story to be completed. Through an unexpected portal, she finds herself trapped in the fictional universe that she loves and tries to use her vast knowledge of the story to alter a few plot lines that might save some of her favorite characters from their intended fates.

That is such a great starting point for a fantasy series! I haven’t read Andrews before but this seems to be a wonderful place to start and with any luck, I can have this literary journey under way before the next entry arrives in the new year:

Well, my early votes are in and when the finals begin, I hope to see many of my picks in that selection. 

While this is not as serious as the other book award competitions , out there, the Goodreads Choice is one that does directly engages the reader for their input and can be seen as a reflection of what’s on the minds of book people at a particular point in time. That ought to count for something, if you ask me.

One of those books of the moment is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, which I finished this week and returned to my local library in the pouring rain (hey, it was due back sooner than I thought). This book is up for Best Fiction, Best Debut Novel and I believe for Best Audiobook as well at the Choice Awards, it’s that huge!

The basic plot revolves around Natalie Heller Mills, a woman who appears to have it all as a “tradwife” social media influencer on her family’s farm with her husband Caleb and their numerous children. However, things are truly not what they seem and as Natalie’s world is on the edge of collapse, a sudden twist changes everything all at once.

I won’t say more than that for those who haven’t read YY yet but I can say after all of the hype both good, bad and In between, this book was better than expected in the best sense.

As we follow Natalie on more than one life experience throughout the story, you get a real sense of seeing a slow motion disaster in the making, almost like watching an intensely made yet fascinating documentary. While she’s never a pleasant person, Natalie is the one thing that a main character needs to be and that’s interesting.

So many people get hung up on whether or not a character is “relatable “ or nice but for me, these fictional folk have to be interesting enough for me to keep with their story. Hero, villain, average person-doesn’t matter as long as they are created with talent by an author who knows what they are doing.

Caro Claire Burke definitely fits that bill and takes what could have easily been a superficial stereotype and breathes life into her on each and every page

 The story does touch down on the tradwife trend but also the effects of being raised on camera and how women are always expected to present themselves in a pleasing manner, especially on social media and so many other things. Yet, at it’s core is the human price to be paid by our leading lady for the image she feels obligated to maintain, not just for financial reasons but for her own sense of identity as well.

Yesteryear is certainly a memorable book and I did vote for it at the Goodreads Choice in at least two categories. Will it hold up over the course of time? We shall see, particularly when the movie adaptation hits theaters in the near future. I personally think it has a solid chance at being a hallmark of this turbulent timeline we’re in and hopefully the first of many more good books from this author. 

In the meantime, do check out the Goodreads Choice for a bit of fun speculation as this year get ready to pack up and go into storage, so to speak.

Oh, and when it comes to the Yesteryear movie, Anne Hathaway is most assuredly going to crush it as Natalie. A lot of other factors are involved with film making, I know, but Hathaway definitely has the chops and perhaps an Oscar in waiting for this role of a lifetime:

FrightFall part two: Dating Dracula is never easy

As promised, here is the follow up to my earlier FrightFall post since I decided to do a literary duet with my readathon books this time around.

For round two, I went with a pair of vampire themed reads; specifically the ladies from the Bram Stoker novel that has become the template for this section of the horror aisle.

One of them was a reread for me, Dracula, My Love by Syria James. Subtitled “The secret journals of Mina Harker”, the classic terror tale is told entirely from her perspective as Mina begins with her trip to Whitby with her best friend Lucy, who is being courted by several men.

While Mina is already settled in the marriage department, she is a bit worried about her fiancé Jonathan, a young lawyer on a long business trip to make arrangements with a foreign noble regarding that man’s future move to England.

Even though Mina is happy to be engaged, she does wonder about the other possibilities in life that her steadfast plans won’t allow her to pursue. After a strange shipwreck in the area, she meets a mysterious stranger who calls himself Maximillian Wagner that instantly charms her despite her initial reluctance. 

All too soon, this pleasant friendship is heading towards something more serious , which alarms yet allures Mina all at once:

Fortunately, news of Jonathan’s return breaks off this connection and with her intended needing medical attention, Mina does her best to push aside any lingering thoughts about Wagner.

However, upon hearing the shocking news of her friend Lucy’s sudden death and Jonathan (now her husband) receiving a shock to spot a figure in public that he had thought long gone, Mina finds herself running into Wagner yet again.

As Jonathan and some of his current colleagues begin to team up to face off against an unspeakable foe, Mina is fighting a more personal battle. Between her devotion to her husband and the passions stirred by Wagner, she is torn emotionally apart.

When it does become clear that the enemy that Jonathan and company are facing and the man she fiercely desires is but one and the same, the risks are incredibly higher and more than Mina’s heart is in true danger.

I first read Syrie James’s Jane Austen themed novels (she also wrote one about Charlotte Brontë) and being familiar with her style made this story instantly engaging to revisit. 

She gives Mina quite a bit of depth, with a backstory about her family’s origins(with a touch of supernatural ability) and fully showcased how taken for granted her intelligence is by the men around her. Interestingly enough, only her vampire lover seems to credit Mina with mental prowess enough to make her an ally of his(for a little while at least).

James does a nice balancing act of honoring the source material while enhancing the strengths of certain characters and tweaking the image of others (Van Helsing isn’t as savvy as he is usually depicted in these stories). She creates a lovely alternative narrative for Mina and Dracula that ought to entertain both newcomers and longtime fang fans alike:

The novel that I read along side D,ML was a newer read for me by Kiersten White, Lucy Undying.

The premise of this story is that Lucy from the Dracula legend did not die by the hands of those vampire hunters (it was another bride of Dracula who was killed in her place) and instead, roamed the world in search of a purpose in her unlife.

She wound up traveling to numerous locations and running into other female vampires who had also been turned by Dracula and then abandoned. Lucy’s overriding concern was for Mina, who Dracula had initially targeted, and by putting herself in danger on her behalf, hoped that act of self sacrifice would be enough to honor the woman she desperately loved yet couldn’t be with in more than one lifetime:

The second half of this narrative comes from Iris, a modern day heiress to a cult like corporate entity that promises eternal youth through its cosmetic products.

Iris is still reeling from the death of her domineering mother and the controlling clutches of the company when she mets a mysterious woman who calls herself “Elle”. She appears to a museum historian and someone with expertise in antique goods is what she needs right now.

Iris is planning to sell off what assets she can in London and make a serious escape plan but finds herself getting very attached to Elle, who is helping her to find buyers for what’s left in the ruined old estate house that was left to her.

 Among the barely valuable possessions, she comes across a journal written by another heiress, Lucy, of course, and finds a connection to that past person that also leads to their mutual connection to the ever present threat that is Dracula:

I won’t say more about the plot except that it’s one hell of a ride there-White doesn’t hesitate in creating an epic tale of love, manipulation and self empowerment with some kickass vampire action.

I had read some of the author’s previous YA books (her Buffy the Vampire Slayer duet is excellent) but this was my first time with her adult storytelling and it’s no joke when it comes to bringing some fresh blood to this old school story. It is definitely the perfect other side of the coin to Dracula, My Love and if anyone needs a good book club recommendation, these two are great reads to devour, together and separate from each other!

I must confess that it took me a bit longer to finish this pair of books (Lucy Undying I completed on Election Night!) but it was so worth it.

Doing this back to back reading was trickier than I thought for a readathon yet I might try it again (just calculate how long the books actually are next time).

Regardless, my thanks to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading for giving us all a good excuse to dive into our overwhelming TBR piles and enjoy our bounty of bookish delights. Hope that everyone else who took part in FrightFall had plenty of page turning trick or treat fun as well.

As for Halloween, it was a wonderful surprise to discover that  TCM was airing the 1979 adaptation of Dracula starring Frank Langella as the Count.

That movie was my gateway into Dracula lore and yes, it’s not an accurate version of the novel as it was more based on a stage play that Langella had performed in.

However, the gothic romance elements of the story were dazzling to behold and still are, by the way. There’s other fine performances here with Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, Donald Pleasence as Dr. Steward and Kate Nelligan as Lucy(in this version, she’s the leading lady while Mina is Van Helsing’s doomed daughter).

Such a seasonal treat to be in vampire country and to embrace a fear factor not related to reality (never thought the color blue could bring such joy!) for the moment was wonderful. Let us all hope that vampires of any variety remain in the fictional realm to entertain rather than truly terrify our collective existence:

 

My recent library loans and a LFL surprise!

During all of the election chaos going on around us, last week I had to take an emotional health break by going to my local library.

Sure, I returned a few books that I didn’t quite get to read but that’s okay. There’s no buyer’s remorse when it comes to library loans, in my opinion.

As it happens, my timing was great as on my way to the library, I dropped off an audiobook (CD version) at the nearest Little Free Library and found a copy of the latest Golden Girls cozy mystery!

Death on the Lanai by Rachel Ekstrom Courage focuses on Blanche as a mysterious invitation to a remote island gala arrives on their doorstep with a gorgeous butterfly brooch yet no clear indication of who is meant to wear that enticing piece of jewelry.

Blanche and friends head out to the party which is being held by a man who was a former romantic partner of hers back in her youth, Declan, who is now a renowned artist. His gathering is intended to reveal his latest work in progress among a number of former colleagues but a sudden storm cuts off the electricity and the presentation.

The next day, Declan is found dead and the ladies are trapped with a whole house full of suspects; can this mystery be solved safely or is their only option for survival swimming for the shore?

I did enjoy the first book in this series (which was a regular library loans) and so far, this fabulous follow up is just as charmingly entertaining. Reading it right now is a great stress reliever, much like a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home with good friends:

Yes, I did make it to my physical library after that and picked up a few interesting books(including a current bestseller that’s been rather talked about this year)including Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo.

The novel is centered around a pair of brothers, Peter and Ivan, who are dealing with the death of their father in similar yet different ways.

Peter is a lawyer who is balancing two relationships, one with Sylvia, his long endearing romantic partner and Naomi, whose youth makes it easier for her to take life not so seriously.

Ivan is a competitive chess player who has lost his winning streak and whose introverted nature makes him distant from his brother in more ways than one. When he mets Margaret, an older woman dealing with a personal struggle of her own, a connection starts to form that could lead him back towards the land of the living. But, can this new bond help Ivan reconnect with Peter?

I have tried to read Rooney before but just didn’t connect with her work (sometimes, you have to wait awhile before a writers work just clicks with you). However, this feels like the right book and time for me.

Also the controversy regarding her publishing rights overseas troubles me. All I have to say about that  matter is that it’s a shame that an author who wishes to follow her conscience in regards to an oppressed group is being financially harassed for doing so while a certain She Who Must Not Be Named is openly bragging about the damage her literary fortunes are doing to another group of oppressed people.

Anyway, this book puts me in mind of Jane Austen as this tale of siblings coping with the death of a parent while embarking on romantic pursuits sounds very much like a particular classic work of hers that has been remade recently (haven’t seen it yet but want to).

 Also, with a musical title for this book and one of those Austen sisters being musically inclined, this seems like an ideal introduction to Rooney indeed:

I decided to add one more book to my pile and that was Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs.

Starting in 1968, Mairin  is sent off to a “girls home” to avoid the unwanted attentions of her stepfather upon her older brother Liam being shipped out to Vietnam.

While Mairin  manage to make some friends, all of them are suffering under the harsh treatment of the nuns that run the place like a proverbial prison. During this cruel regime that harms more than it protects the girls, an escape plan is made with mixed results.

This does lead to a reunion years later, with both sorrow and joy over that time spent together being shared. This sounds more heavy in tone that most of the novels I’ve read by Wiggs but I am totally here for this dramatic shift.

Wiggs does know how to balance tragedy and joy in her work and this story has very real echoes out in the wider world that this should resonate well on the page:

Well, next week’s election results are going to be earth shattering in many ways but thankfully, I have some good books on hand from my local library to help ride the upcoming turbulence out.

I did vote early (along with my family) and all we can do at the moment is hope that many others will use the ballot box for positive change in our country. Voting helps society in countless ways, especially when it comes to maintaining our local libraries for the benefit of our communities and all readers should keep that in mind when they’re at the voting booth.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to my local neighborhood rummage sale that often has a table of books as part of the available wares for sale. Sure, there are other things to buy(and I do!) but the opportunity for new book additions is one worth waiting for with imminent pleasure:

 

A Better World of new books to enjoy

 As the fall season makes its presence more known, the urge to wrap yourself up in blankets with a good book at hand  to read becomes increasingly urgent with every passing day.

To that end, I indulged in a small haul from Better World Books, where a portion of each sale goes towards a literary charity, and got a nice trio of reads, one of which I’ll probably pick up before the end of the year.

My main focus for this buying session was to find a nice copy of Parable of the Talents, the follow up to Octavia Butler’s sci-fi classic The Parable of the Sower.

Here, we rejoin Lauren and friends as they seek to create a more harmonious community within the ravaged remains of America, only to face persecution from those in power.

A good section of the book is told by Lauren’s daughter Asha, who wants to finish what her mother started but is concerned about the price to be paid for going down that harsh road. This was meant to be the second book in a trilogy but sadly, Butler passed away before it could be completed.

I may save this book for next year’s Sci-Fi Summer readathon( no doubt it’ll be a more potent read after the midterms) but I would like to dive into Butler’s work upon discovering just how amazing she and her writing both was and is still to this day:

I added on a couple of mystery titles as well, such as The Killer Question by Janice Hallett.

Told in a mixed media style, the main source of contention arises at a small town pub in England aptly named The Case is Altered.

Locals have come to love the Monday night trivia contest, particularly a team who calls themselves the Plucky Losers. However, when a new trivia team, The Shadow Knights, who are lead by someone known  only as the General arrive on the scene, the vibe quickly shifts downward.

What was once a friendly game soon becomes bitter competition that divides rather than unites everyone. Things get dicier when a body is discovered nearby and the victim happens to have a reputation for cheating at pub games. Is this a coincidence or the end result of taking trivia night way too seriously?

Hallett is a top notch writer in this field and her blend of tech talk(e-mails, apps, etc) with good old fashioned clever suspense building is a marvel to behold. Plus, who hasn’t let a trivia challenge get a little out of hand at times (just not in the lethal sense, of course!):

To round this haul out, my pick was a recent romantic suspense by Nora Roberts, Hidden Nature.

When Officer Sloan Cooper becomes severely injured while stopping an armed robbery, she decides to spend her recovery at Heron’s Rest, her family’s home town.

While she’s managing to rebuild her life in more ways than one(including a possible romance with lawyer turned contractor Nash Littlefield), a string of mysterious disappearances leads Sloan to believe that this is not just a random set of occurrences.

As she starts to investigate, her instincts about this being the work of a serial killer appear to be right. Can Sloan regain her confidence enough to halt him in his tracks or is she setting herself up to be the next target of the killer?

I’m a latecomer to Roberts’ work but hey, better late than never, right? Her keen knack for developing solid characters that you want to spend time with and weaving in well earned moments of mystery and suspense makes for a great read that’s especially welcoming this chilly time of year:

With the state of the world right now, there’s no doubt that I’m alone in dealing with rising stress levels that aren’t brought on by watching the usual Halloween fare.

Nevertheless, we can and will get through this together and hopefully come out on the other side of the darkness somewhat the better for this harrowing experience.

All I can suggest  here for that is a) vote early if you can (as my family and I are planning to do) and b) take some time out for yourself to relieve that anxiety whenever possible. Read, rewatch a favorite show, take up that hobby you put aside, do whatever it reasonably takes to keep your spirits up.

What’s  been helping me at the moment, besides my reading, is revisiting Gilmore Girls, particularly on Saturday nights(thanks to a small cable channel that does a mini marathon of the episodes and they’re in the middle of Season Two as we speak!). 

It’s a fun fall tradition to hang out in Stars Hollow with Lorelai and Rory and most importantly, Rory’s books! Choose your comfort food of the mind as things get more wacky than a Town Hall meeting with a major pitch from Taylor , assisted by Kirk, and be sure to stock up on snacks as well because you know Lorelai and Rory always do as part of the coping with madness fun:

FrightFall part one: Carrie then and now

 Well, I just finished the first half of my FrightFall challenge(hope everyone else who signed up for the Seasons of Reading event are also enjoying some great scary reads)and since my duet of reading this year is a change from my norm, I’m dividing up my recaps of the books on this TBR as well.

With the release of the new Carrie eight part adaptation online, my completion of the original novel along with one that follows in it’s fearsome footsteps is rather timely to say the least. While I do have some thoughts about that version of Stephen King’s debut classic (and no, I haven’t watched it due to Prime not being in my entertainment budget these days), my focus is on the books first.

Carrie was not my first King novel-that honor belongs to Christine-but I was familiar with the 1976 movie before tackling the book, which is short yet striking in it’s cruel clarity about high school and human nature.

In some ways, King was ahead of his time by using mixed media (interviews, excerpts from newspaper articles, etc)as the omnipresent narrator of this tale of Carrie White, an outsider who was pushed too far by all around her and sadly, released a fury that consumed them all.

At the heart of this book is Carrie herself; a sad, scared girl who wanted to escape the traps that society and her mother had set out for her to stumble into. When she receives that fateful invitation to the prom from Tommy Ross, her first reaction is to suspect trickery at work, a totally realistic reaction. 

With only the encouragement of Miss Desjardin at the beginning, Carrie allows herself to hope that things can get better for her future and you can see that if someone had reached out to Carrie a little sooner in life, the path of prom destruction she was unknowingly on might’ve been avoided:

Unfortunately, we also witness the dark influence of her mother Margaret whose power of manipulation may be waning over her emotionally captive daughter but her violent fears of the world still have impact on Carrie.

For some reason, people think it’s hard to sympathize with Carrie but her first strike towards independence both at home and in the wider world is quite compelling; by taking charge of her own power in more ways than one, she’s a solid example of feminine determination for a little while there:

Sadly, that spark is snuffed out on Prom Night but Carrie doesn’t go out with a whimper (at least not at the dance), instead she channels that rage into something tragically devastating yet slightly satisfying at the same time.

This isn’t an endorsement of what happened that night, just the reality that this book spoke to many young women (and a few older ones) about how underestimated their positions in life are, whether you’re the target of bullies or like Sue Snell, who unintentionally set the gruesome  prom prank into motion, on the path towards a conventional life that you’re dreading to tread. 

Sure, the book is a little rough around the edges( it was a first try that King originally tossed away until his wife Tabitha fished out of the trash and encouraged him to finish) but it still has a hard and fast grip on the reality of high school horror.

As I said earlier, Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood 

came to my attention online as talk of the upcoming Carrie adaptation grew stronger.

When over the summer, my local library was doing a giveaway of YA titles, this book was among them and I took that as a sign that I was meant to read this inspired by Carrie contemporary story and I’m so glad that I listened and did so.

Set in a remote town in Georgia during the year 2014, Maddy Washington has the local teen pariah for a long time and due to a sudden rainstorm, she’s more exposed to ridicule than ever before.

Maddy is biracial, something that her bigoted father Thomas has gone out of his and her way to conceal and part of that includes using a hot comb to straighten Maddy’s hair. Once it gets wet that fateful day, open mockery ensues in the classroom and so does Maddy’s telekinetic powers.

Things get even harder for her as social media brings some of the bullying incidents and casual racism to light, resulting in trying to put out a better image of the town by holding an inclusive prom; segregated proms have been the norm(and not just in the book, it’s a real life thing that still happens in certain parts of our country) but one particular student, Wendy, wants to better her chances at following her athletic boyfriend Kenny to college by make this happen.

Kenny is asked by Wendy to take Maddy to prom and he reluctantly agrees yet by getting to know Maddy better, sees that they have a lot in common. Both of them are under pressure from without and within to fit into certain roles that their families have arranged for them(Kenny, a football star career, Maddy, a perfect stay-at-homemaker) and both want to break free of those boundaries.

Maddy’s dilemma is more compounded by the fact that her powers are very real and finding out that her religious zealot of a father has lied to her about what did happen to her mother and how the world really works. 

Also, she has had no one to talk to or guide her in life until one of her teachers and later Kenny gets to know her.

Maddy’s only true knowledge of the outside world comes from the old movies and ‘50s TV shows that Thomas watches nonstop (no internet , cell phone or cable TV allowed in their house). While those pop culture blasts from the past do give her something to look forward beyond her limited sphere, Maddy also knows about the darker side of such sunny looking images as well:

However, upon connecting with Kenny, Maddy decides to go to the All Together Prom in defiance of Thomas’ wishes and starts to widen her social circle. Unfortunately, one of Wendy’s best friends, Jules, has lost out on her big college dreams due to her nasty bigotry being showcased online and plots a humiliating revenge that changes the course of everyone’s lives rather decisively.

To say more would spoil things but I must say that this book expands on the terror template created by Carrie in more ways than one. Unlike the King original, TWOB is the author’s eighth novel and the characters have much more depth  and nuance given to them and stronger emotional connections are made between major and minor characters alike.

Maddy and Kenny become a couple that you immediately root for(his relationship with Wendy is on a downward spiral at best) and when the terrible twist on the prom incident occurs, the outrage and pain is palatable on the page. When Maddy does unleash her wrath, it’s incredibly potent and takes the damage that Carrie White did up to 11! Jackson not only honors her inspiration, she exceeds it by leaps and bounds.

This is a book that shows you can update prior works with good creative choices and heartfelt writing. For example , much like the original King novel, Jackson uses mixed media(particularly a true crime type of podcast) to bolster the story and it not only displays the modernity of that approach but also how true to life that option was.

In the end, The Weight of Blood is frighteningly beautiful and sadly tragic much like the book that came before it. All that Maddy wanted was one magical night on the dance floor and she had it, but oh so briefly…:

Of course, the reason that I reread the King book and read the Jackson novel for the first time was the Mike Flanagan helmed eight part adaptation of Carrie that debuted online recently.

While I haven’t seen it, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t think that I will bother to watch it at all sometime in the future. Based upon the spoilers that I have read (and will only generally allude to here) and the few clips that I did look at, this isn’t the version of Carrie for me.

Mike Flanagan has stated that he’s planning to make Carrie a three season series and intends to start up a Stephen King cinematic universe of sorts here (an adaptation of the Dark Tower books is in the works as well). That may be why the creative choices that were made during this show and particularly the final episode went the way that they did and to me, that’s not what Carrie is all about.

Trying to dilute the agency of the lead character in order to make them more “likable “ to the audience is rather insulting to their collective intelligence. One of the core elements of the main character is harnessing her own power, emotionally and psychically, and by taking away her ability to freely choose her destiny, rightly or wrongly, is another attempt to restrain her spirit. 

Granted, I didn’t see the show but I have seen Mike Flanagan’s work before (Doctor Sleep was very well done) and I have no doubt that all involved gave excellent performances. This just sounds to me like someone wanted to make this simply told story more elaborate than it needs to be.

That’s a shame, in my opinion, because the one universal theme that ties the King novel and Jackson’s new take on it is the homegrown horror that is bullying. It’s an experience that many of us can relate to in more ways than one and while social media does ratchet that up to even more toxic levels, it’s a persistent poison that is never completely cured.

This updated Carrie could have done much with that concept across the generational lines but seems to have preferred to use this sad tragedy as a stepping stone towards a more action packed epic instead. Too bad, I think a simpler approach might’ve worked to highlight the humanity within this iconic horror heroine in a stronger spotlight:

Anyway, I am on the second set of FrightFall picks, which are very Brides of Dracula in rather different ways.

Kiersten White’s Lucy Undying has the unfortunate Miss Westerna seeking a new existence in modern times while Dracula, My Love by Syria James has a tumultuous relationship for Mina Harker with the legendary Count. The former is a new read and the latter a revisit, which makes for a bloody good time indeed, I hope!

I will share my thoughts on both of those after the FrightFall readathon is officially over and I wish you all a wickedly good read this Halloween season (goodness knows a fictional fear fest that you can easily close the cover on is most welcome these days!):

A bumper crop of BOTM fall reads

 October is certainly starting to feel more like fall, with cooling temperatures, apple cider goodies everywhere and fresh new books to add on to those ever growing TBR piles.

I decided to get a Book of the Month Club this time around due to one of their main selections being a must-have for me. Min Jin Lee’s new novel, American Hagwon, is another multi generational epic story of hers that is sure to be one of the best books I’ve read this year.

We met the Koh family in 1992, having moved back to Seoul after living in Sydney, Australia for husband John’s work at a trading company. While wife Helen discovers that their finances are vastly different now, oldest son Bo finds himself struggling in school much to his surprise.

His siblings DH and Mido also have  similar challenges, leading Helen to enroll them in the title institute (a specialized after school program) and for awhile, improving their educational progress in more ways than one.

However, a scandal arising at John’s workplace causes another move for the family, which leads to a chain of events that upends all of their expectations. Some of those events are simply beyond their control (the Great Recession, for one) yet it’s what life still has to teach them all that truly counts.

Min Jin Lee is an amazing writer with subtle insights into emotions and the realities of the world at large in influencing her characters. I was fortunate enough to meet her in person once(for her first book, Free Food for Millionaires) and with every new novel, it’s like saying hi to an old friend over and over again:

While I do have some suitably scary stories for Halloween on hand, I did want to add a little something seasonal and went with a debut romcom called You’re The One That I Haunt by Katie Jung.

Libby is trying to be happy for her best friend Carter who’s getting married but she can’t shake the unrequited romantic feelings between them off. 

Not only are she and Carter long term pals, Libby knows about the curse of dark magic that has plagued his family for generations so when the ghost of Carter’s recently departed cousin Trip appears to her to enlist her help in breaking the curse, she’s not too surprised.

Said help includes making sure Carter gets married, a goal that she doesn’t really want to accomplish.

 However, as they get closer to the wedding, Libby finds herself questioning her relationship with Carter and becoming very attracted to Trip, despite the rather obvious obstacle in that romantic direction! Can she save both men in time or does she only have a ghost of a chance with one of them?

This just sounds charming (the title alone is adorable) and despite the sinister vibes of the season, a sweet and sassy supernaturally themed romance such as this would be a nice cup of apple cinnamon tea to sip and savor mentally:

To round my order out, I chose another debut novel; a historical fiction by Sharon Kurtzman entitled The Lost Baker of Vienna.

Zoe is a food writer, whose interest in the culinary arts came from her grandfather Aron, who spoke little about his past in Europe during WWII.

Upon his death in 2018, Zoe looks into Aron’s bygone years and discovers quite a bit about his sister Chana. In 1946, Chana and what remained of their family took refuge in Vienna, where she managed to get a job working in the kitchen of a hotel as a dishwasher.

Late at night, however, she sneaks back into the hotel to use their equipment to recreate her late father’s recipes. Chana is aided in this by an apprentice baker that shares her passion for cooking. While she does want to make a new life with her new companion, a black market dealer with a dangerously attractive flair offers her so much more but at what cost?

This fictional journey into the past that reflects upon the present is based on real life events within the author’s own family, a special ingredient that is sure to enrich the full emotional flavor of this literary cake indeed:

Well, I am glad to reap such a crop of great reads from BOTM once again, although I will have to take a break from them next month-between a fall sale at Better World Books and a hefty stack of library loans(more on all of that next time), I do have some serious buckling down to do on my in-house reading.

Not to mention tackling my dual reading for FrightFall, which is going very well(Carrie and The Weight of Blood go along well together like the ideal autumn lunch of soup and a sandwich). With all that’s going on these days, it feels like such a necessary respite from the world at large to have a good book to spend time with.

Of course, one does need a book break and that’s where early season rewatching of shows like Gilmore Girls comes in handy.

 Yes, we all debate over Rory’s boyfriends but Jess, despite his messiness, is still my favorite. He was the truly bookish one of them all and that  does count highly in his favor, if you ask me:

Taking a novel look at librarians this Banned Books Week

Next week is more than the first new days of October and the start of spooky season, it’s perhaps a bit scarier than that-Banned Books Week(Oct. 4-10) has become seriously more relevant these past few years for sadly many good reasons.

One of the biggest battlegrounds for preserving our right to read freely lately has been our local libraries. Numerous states, such as Florida, Utah, Texas and Wisconsin, have had both bans and challenges raised against school and public libraries to keep books out of the hands of readers. 

Librarians not only have to face these censorship fights with limited resources and pressure from outside groups mounted against them, they also continue to do their daily best to provide their branches with the best services available amidst budget battles as well.

With that in mind, I thought it might be nice to highlight a few current novels that feature librarians(and library related folks) as the heroic leads that they are on and off page:

The Library Thief: This debut novel by Kuchenga Shenje is set in Manchester of 1896, where Florence is pursuing her dream of working as a bookbinder, a trade that her father was supportive of until a scandal caused her to be cast out into the streets.

Snapping up a commission meant for her father, Florence begins work at the private library of Lord Belfield, a vast collection of priceless works that could be a promising stepping stone for Florence’s career.

One day, she arrives at the library, only to find that the place has been broken into yet nothing seems to be missing. However, upon spotting a burning book in the fireplace, Florence discovers that this particular tome is the diary of the late Lady Belfield who had died under very mysterious circumstances.

Can Florence protect the books from future attacks and herself from being suspected of knowing more than she does about this tragic death?

This sounds like the start of a great new detective series and yes, bookbinders are key members of any library staff so this intriguing new book definitely belongs within this realm of reason indeed:

The Book Censor’s Library:

Bothayna Al-Essa’s novel(translated by Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain) takes place in a future society where the title character is assigned to go through various literary works to strike out anything “objectionable “ by the strict standards of the government built from the remains of the Old World.

Despite taking a clinical approach to his work, the censor finds himself enchanted by the world of words and stories and seeks out others who share in this forbidden delight. He winds up diving into a hidden society of secret libraries and the book lovers that protect them at all costs. Is he willing to do the same for this new found love of reading or will sacrifices be made against his all that he holds dear?

This book has received much praise and award nominations , including a win this year from Inside Book Prize, plus comparisons to 1984 and Alice in Wonderland (quite the combo!). This definitely sounds like a must read for those who appreciate a love letter to the joys of reading and preserving literature:

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society: For something a bit more Halloween themed, our leading lady in C.M. Waggoner’s cozy mystery is Sherry Pinkwhistle, a small town librarian who lives with her cat and has a knack for solving mysteries.

While she mostly aids the local police in a quiet Miss Marple type of way, a recent string of murders proves to be more than the usual suspects type of thing. Rather, the threat appears to be supernatural in nature.

To that end, Sherry decides to set up a special squad to track down the demonic danger among them, with the likes of the local parish priest, a newcomer to town and Janine, her quirky gal pal. Can they solve the mystery and save the day before a truly awful monster mash is about to begin?

This just sounds like a combo of Murder, She Wrote and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I am so for it! Giles was a role model for librarians both then and now and any excuse to honor the memory of Anthony Stewart Head is well worth taking up:

While these and many other wonderful books about libraries and their devoted communities are great to enjoy, it’s also important to remember the hard work that real life library folk put in on a regular basis.

Even when the threat of censorship seems like a distant warning from the past, our library workers are doing all that they can to help their communities in ways big and small. A public library is something that most of us take for granted but in these times of encroaching data centers and talk of monetizing just about everything, libraries are fortresses of knowledge with librarian knights ready to defend them for us.

If you want to know more about this year’s BBW events and activities, there is a link in the first paragraph of this post to help you on your way. In the meantime, let us hold on even more firmly to our right to read and think freely in order to keep what’s left of our democracy alive: