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!):
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:
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:
A sure sign that autumn has officially started is the announcement that sign-ups for Seasons of Reading’s annual FrightFall readathon are now open.
That has happened today and not only did I quickly add my name to the list, I am ready like a certain Mr. Krueger with my TBR list! Now, if you’re new to this event, the only major requirement is to read at least one scary book(from cozy to creepy, your choice), however I tend to go all in on the fear factor with my books on this one.
Usually, I stick to three books but this time, it’ll be four due to my change up for this challenge by doing a pair of reading duets.
This is something that I do for my morning reading routine when it comes to classics; I pair a classic title with a similarly suitable book and read each on alternating days(start one on Monday, read from the other on Tuesday, then go back to the first book on Wednesday and so on).
For example, right now I’m rereading Catcher in the Rye with a fresh book, The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, which is a coming of age story so they share that genre.
Sometimes, I pick a retelling of the original or something that feels just right for that classic (planning on tackling the Iliad and The Odyssey in the near future). Anyway, I thought that method to my literary madness might be interesting to test out here:
So, I’m beginning with a reread of Stephen King’s Carrie, particularly since a new adaptation of the book is due to air online soon.
Personally, most of the remakes of this iconic debut keep going to the same well of “let’s set this story in modern day and make commentary about social media!” and that approach just doesn’t seem to work very well. Yes, Mike Flanagan is a good director and shows an apt hand at Stephen King narratives(he did an excellent job with Doctor Sleep) but this present day template is such an awkward fit for the basic emotional journey of the story, in my opinion.
If it was up to me, I would try to mine more of the source material and if you need a current day setting, make that the framework instead of the central picture. Have a true crime podcaster look into what happened on that particular prom night and find a lone survivor to tell their tale.
The rest of the film can be told in flashback with maybe a few minor twists here and there. My suggestion; have the interview with that prom survivor begin with this line “I only know what she told me while dying in my arms”. Very dramatic, yes?
Rereading Carrie should be interesting in more ways than one and for the record, I think the 1976 version still holds up pretty damn well:
The book that I am pairing Carrie with is The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson- it was highly recommended by people talking about the upcoming remake and asking why this YA novel hasn’t been adapted yet.
Set in the small town of Springville, Maddy Washington has been a social outcast for most of her young life. Things get even worse when a sudden rainstorm reveals a major secret about her identity that her overly religious father has demanded be kept from the public.
The backlash from that exposure lends to a special prom that’s meant to be a positive experience for everyone but when Maddy is asked by the high school football star to be his date, things do not go well. Unbeknownst to them all is Maddy’s true power, which is about to introduce itself and make quite the terrifying impression indeed.
Much like the book that inspired it, TWOB also uses mixed media in its narrative, which sounds great to me. Taking the bare bones of a well known tale and remodeling for a new audience is a nice blend of the old school and new that needs to extend beyond the expected target audience for once:
My next set of dancing darlings do share a mysterious man in common but with rather different results from that relationship.
First up is Lucy Undying by Kiersten White, which has the unfortunate Miss Westenra not only break free from being just another bride of Dracula but manage to make a new existence for herself within the twenty first century.
She makes a mortal friend, Iris, whose family health care business prospers due to a sinister secret that they would kill to keep. Nonetheless, Lucy is determined to help Iris in any way that she can, even if that means dealing with Dracula himself yet again.
I’ve been meaning to get to this one and the time certainly feels bloody right. White is grand at remixing established villains and heroes( her Buffy the Vampire Slayer duology is top notch) with original flair and character focus that makes revisiting the Dracula legend in this fashion stylish in the best sense of the term:
Her dancing partner will be a reread of Syria James’ Dracula, My Love, that tells Mina Harper’s version of her encounter with the Count.
Told in journal entries, she meets the mysterious visitor from afar and learns much about him all the while her husband Jonathan is hunting him down.
This love triangle is enticing to Mina but ultimately, she must choose between immortal passion and mortal love, not to mention the deadly consequences of both of those decisions .
I fondly recall this book as a charmingly chilling read (James also writes Jane Austen related fiction) and this should go well with Lucy Undying as a refreshing twist to the nosferatu nightcap that Stoker’s Dracula has become on the bookish bar shelf:
If this readathon has peaked your seasonal interest, there is a link in the first paragraph of this post to the Seasons of Reading site where you can learn more about FrightFall and sign up for all of the page turning fun.
My thanks in advance to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading for making this all possible and I hope we all enjoy some spooky story time together this October.
I also hope that my reading duet method will work beyond my morning routine here but hey, no harm in trying, right? Granted, it’s hard to compete with the daily headlines for scares these days but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time on our own, doing the monster mash together marvelously:
While it’s still September, for many of us Halloween can’t be here soon enough and to
that end, Practical Magic 2 opened up in theaters last week to a pretty respectable box office tally despite mixed reviews from critics. From the reception online, it seems as if a lot of the fans of the original Alice Hoffman adaptation from 1998 really enjoyed it and since that’s who this movie was clearly meant for, I say “Well, why not?”
I recently saw the Devil Wears Prada sequel on streaming and yeah, it was okay but also directly aimed at those who fondly remember the original film (at least PM2 used one of Hoffman’s follow-up books for their script unlike the DWP movie).
If you didn’t see the first movie, a lot of the references to it in the DWP sequel wouldn’t register with a newcomer at all. Might be the same with this sequel, might not, l can’t say. I had fun, though and that’s a necessity for your emotional health these days.
So I hope that the PM fans had a good time here and if you’re not in a hurry to see this movie just yet(going to wait for cable myself), you can kick off your spooky season reading with a witch themed read.
I found at least three books on my TBR that could scratch that literary itch quite nicely.
The most current is Meg Shaffer’s The Book Witch, where our magical heroine, Rainy March, uses her powers to protect fictional characters from being attacked by censorious outside forces.
When Rainy’s grandfather goes missing on one of his bookish missions, she teams up with one of her favorite book detectives known as the Duke of Chicago in order to rescue him. Unfortunately, Rainy also has the challenge of not getting too attached to the Duke, despite their chemistry growing between jaunts into other books.
Shaffer is very enchanting when it comes to weaving fresh storytelling cloth into familiar page turning tapestries and this novel promises to be the best sort of magical journey of the mind indeed:
For something a little more sinister, I do have The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn on hand.
Piers Corbin found out at an early age that she had an affinity for poison magic and over the years, worked to keep it under control.
However, in order to escape a deteriorating marriage, she used those skills to fake her own demise and fled to the small town of Balsam to start a new life with her Aunt Myrtle.
There, Piers learned that she’s the latest in a long line of bane witches whose ability to make poison a weapon against men who practice evil on a regular basis.
While restarting her life(and possibly a new love), the presence of a serial killer in the area means that Piers may have to be a death dealer in a way that could also be the end of her new existence in Balsam.
I have been saving this book up for the right occasion and it may be time for this scary story suppertime to begin:
However, if I’m in the mood for a more mellow read, then Sydney J. Shields’ The Honey Witch ought to be a sweet treat there.
As the title enchantress, Marigold protects the island of Inniafree with her bee charmer abilities from any and all threats yet the biggest danger can come from her heart.
According to lore, if a Honey Witch falls in love, she loses her powers and with the menace of the Ash Witch lurking about, Marigold doesn’t want to risk her new home.
However, when the friend of a friend visits Innisfree, she feels the urge to tamp down her emotions or her magic will evaporate, leaving Marigold vulnerable in more ways than one. Yet, it might be worth taking that chance…
This does sound charmingly cozy with a good dollop of romance on top of a storytelling sundae that suits this season just fine:
Whichever witchy read you choose from these or many other delightfully spellbinding options you find on the shelves, be sure to select your preferred fictional flavor and enjoy it as much as possible.
As for me, I’m not sure of which one to choose and as for the right movie, there is a certain long awaited sequel that I’ve been meaning to get to, one way or another, and before the end of October, I will pop some corn for that sisterly silly showcase, no doubt about that!:
I hope you all had a nice Labor Day lengthy weekend with plenty to read. Luckily, my September box from Book of the Month Club arrived just in time and one of those titles is on my Currently Reading pile as we speak(more on that one in a moment).
First, however, I must admit that I had put my account on a two month pause (yep, the economy) but I had to break that hold early-it worked out, budget wise-because one of the Main Selections was a must have for me.
Rachel Harrison‘s Kiss Slay,Replay is subtitled “a Time Loop novel” but this is more Happy Death Day than Groundhog’s Day here!
Willa Sullivan is less than thrilled to begin with to be attending her friend’s wedding due to the fact that her most recent exe is invited as well; worse, he brought a plus-one with him.
As it turns out, that’s actually not the worst because this particular wedding is being held at the site of a former summer camp and judging by the masked maniac who crashes the party, it’s easy to figure out why they got such a good deal on the location!
Willa, however, wakes up the next day and finds herself reliving the entire wedding over and over and over…you get the gruesome point.
Can she figure out a way to end this lethal love train of terror (and maybe find a new boyfriend to boot )or is her eternal destiny to be a blood soaked guest and never the blissful bride?
I do adore this concept and ever since I read Play Nice, have looked forward to more from Harrison and her marvelous mix of horror, humor and heartfelt drama:
I also picked up my second Centennial edition , the 1974 John Le Carre modern classic Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
This Cold War story introduces us to George Smiley, a former ringleader of spies who is brought out from retirement in order to capture a Russian mole.
The list of suspects include many assumed friends and potential foes and perhaps a certain someone very close to his heart at one time. Will he be able to find this hidden threat or are his best hunting days over and done?
The last time I read a Le Carre book was decades ago(The Little Drummer Girl, due in part to the 1984 movie adaptation)but I do recall enjoying that one and
the state of affairs these days, exploring a good old school version of spy fare might be an intriguing diversion.
Plus, it’s a good excuse to check out the BBC miniseries adaptation from 1969, with the late great Alec Guinness as Smiley. The Centennial edition is nicely put together and before this 100 year anniversary of BOTM is up, I’m hoping to get at least one or two more, we shall see:
As for my current read among this BOTM batch, I went with an August selection in the romantasy category.
The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson is set between two points of civilization surrounded by a vast forest of vampiric attackers known as The Drained.
In the city of Lunamede, Harlow is the youngest daughter of a magical family that has ruthlessly dominated the social and political landscape for generations. As her personal form of protest, she uses her deadly set of inherited powers as the “Poison Vixen”, ridding the city of evil men.
Upon hearing that her parents are once again forcing her to enter a politically motivated marriage, Harlow goes out into the night, after what she believes may be her last target. Unfortunately he happens to be immune from her poisonous kiss.
Even more troubling, the man in question is her new intended husband, Henry, who is also marrying her for his family’s purposes and to spy upon his in-laws , not to mention learn more about the rebellion brewing in Lunamede against the magical ruling classes.
Being attracted to each other is also annoying but when faced with a mutual threat, the only choice for survival is perhaps to trust each other for the good of them all.
I’m over a hundred pages in(it’s a good chunky read) so far, this is a great fantasy drama. The vibes between Harlow and Henry are solidly sizzling with some good banter and the tang of intrigue hovering over the secrets and lies yet to be discovered is page turning tasty!
With the hectic nature of this week, spending some quality time with this tantalizing tome(plus a current library loan) is rather refreshing, in a charmingly twisted sort of way. Plus, hard to resist a lady with a poison kiss:
Well, we all know what the end of this week is and no matter how you honor the day, do try to take good emotional care of yourself and those around you.
As for me, I am looking forward to feeling the start of the fall season and longing for sweater weather to begin. When it comes to the four seasons, I am definitely an Autumn, the perfect time to catch up on my reading before the end of the year, if you ask me:
Hi, folks and happy day one of September to you! Not only has the fall season started(unofficially, I suppose) but the end of Seasons of Reading’s High Summer Readathon has arrived as well.
My goal was to read at least three books with the word “summer” in the title and one of them was a new to me author, Carley Fortune.
Well, I did read a Carley Fortune novel yet instead of One Golden Summer, I wound up with Every Summer After instead. Since OGS does tie into that book, it made sense for me to tackle it first upon spotting it at my local library.
Our leading lady is Persephone “Percy” Fraser, whose family has been spending their summers in Barry’s Bay, a small Canadian tourist town, and over the years, has been best friends with Sam Florek, sharing a love of nature, horror movies and ambitions for a future together.
It’s been years since the two of them got together but when Percy gets a call from Sam’s brother Charlie about the death of their mother, she instantly knows that respects and so much more need to paid here.
I won’t say more than that regarding the plot ; what really strengthens the story is the narrative hook of the characters and the indelible portrait of Barry’s Bay that the author brings to life on page.
You feel so connected to these fictional people that you want to talk back to them(much like a good horror movie when you shout out warnings to the screen!) and encourage them to avoid certain situations. Then again, we wouldn’t have much of a book if everyone was a Cautious Cathy, now would we?
I do allow myself to switch out a book if necessary during these challenges and in this case, it was a pretty good call. Now I know that I like Carley Fortune and still have another book on hand (which happens to focus on Charlie, so there’s more nuance for me on that front) for another time.
As it happens, this particular book was turned into an adaptation for a certain streaming service with a title change(Every Year After) and from what I understand, a major plot point change as well. I don’t intend to watch the show but if it gets that audience more interested in reading, then those alterations will be well worth it:
As for the books I intended to read originally here, Ali Hazelwood’s Problematic Summer Romance is similar to Every Summer After in that it is connected to another book by the same author.
In this circumstance, I did read the earlier title(Not in Love) where the main characters in this novel were just supporting players. This time around, Maya is traveling to a remote island in Italy for her brother‘a destination wedding , an event that comes with some unexpected setbacks, and while she’s happy to be there, the biggest issue for her is dealing with Conor.
Conor is her brother’s best friend and business partner, plus much older than Maya(she’s twenty three, he is thirty eight). Out of all those potential problems, it’s the age difference that holds Conor back from pursuing a relationship with Maya. Can this time together get them to look past that or will this end things once and for all?
I do enjoy Hazelwood‘s takes on romance and appreciate the dynamic of Conor not wanting to use his status as an older man to dominate a younger potential romantic partner. However, some of those arguments about that issue between those two went on for a bit too long there.
While I did get some Jane Austen’s Emma vibes from the book, even Mr. Knightley and Miss Woodhouse knew when to call a truce! All in all, I would say that PSR is good entertainment, particularly if you’ve read Not in Love first:
And finally, I got to experience These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean.
The Storms of the title are a family whose wealthy patriarch Franklin has recently passed away. His daughter Alice has been estranged from them for several years but nonetheless, comes home to their New England island retreat to pat her last respects. Unfortunately, her father’s will holds a few (not totally unexpected)surprises for her and the remainder of the family.
Enforcing those final requests is Jack, who Alice happened to meet on the train coming in and wound up having what she thought would be a one night stand. What’s more annoying is that while Jack certainly knew who she was, Alice had no idea who he was or what role he was about to play this particular week.
Alice and her siblings are asked to jump through some hoops in order to gain their inheritance, with Alice’s only task is to stay the full week of mourning. Since her mother and most of her family are as emotionally toxic as any nuclear waste disposal, her urge to leave is strong but if even one of them refuses to take part, then all of them will lose out on the money.
The story stays mainly with Alice but the viewpoint does get shifted to her other family members at times such as her obnoxious brother Sam(whose wife Sila is even worse) and older sister Greta, who is being made to end a secret relationship with a longtime staff member. That helps to round out the overall story and gives more depth to their characters.
MacLean is another new to me writer that I would love to read more from and I’m glad that I listened to some good word of mouth about this book. It’s a great read for any time of year, if you ask me.
While this novel will naturally bring comparisons to shows like Succession, I can see a little Jane Austen in this engaging mix especially when it comes to dysfunctional family relationships with the worst fear being to economize or as the Eliots of Persuasion would shudder to say “Retrench?!”:
Thank you to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading for another wonderful reading event and I’m already making plans for FrightFall later this season!
In the meanwhile, I hope that all of you had a good end of summer despite the daily turmoil being shoved in our faces these days . One of the toughest hits that we’ve collectively shared is the passing of Miss Dolly Parton, an icon in so many wonderful ways.
As a reader, it’s been amazing to see her Imagination Library, a program that sends free books to young children, take off like it has. From a project meant to help kids from her own home town(in honor of her father) at first, it has become an international organization that jumpstarts the love of reading for people both in this nation and abroad.
Despite federal budget cuts, the Imagination Library is still bound and determined to keep going and judging by the overwhelming donations since Dolly’s passing, that mission will continue indeed.
This is one of the reasons that people around the world have taken the departure of Dolly Parton to heart so strongly; her unfailing kindness to others. Some might sneer at the attention given to her life and legend but those cynical beings fail to comprehend the overflowing goodness that she gave to all of us without hesitation.
There are the many acts of charity that she made(both known and unknown) and advocacy for folks oppressed by so-called “polite society “, not to mention a good sense of humor about herself, plus her incredible musical talents and other pop culture appearances. We were blessed to have Dolly among us and hopefully, her legacy will be a path for others to follow.
So, thank you, Miss Parton for sharing your bounty with us and when we hear one of your songs or watch one of your movies or see a child enjoy a picture book for the first time, we will always think of you as the best that humanity has , and hopefully will continue, to offer:
