The long and short of book awards in 2017

Now that we've finished up with the Emmys(congrats to the folks involved with Big Little Lies and The Handmaid's Tale for their wins), the next major pop culture award show speculation is all about books,..well,for some of us at least.

The long lists of nominees for The National Book Award were released last week, with the finalists due to be announced on October 4 and the winners to be celebrated on November 17.

As much as I appreciate all four of the categories,which include non-fiction and young adult, my focal point here is on fiction and I was so thrilled to see a book chosen that not only had I recently finished to be on that list, it's also one of the best novels that I have read this year.

Pachinko is the second novel written by Min Jin Lee, who took several years to work on the book in order to get the emotional nuances of the story right.

Part of that research included living in Japan and looking deeper into the cultural history between Korea and Japan, which is at the heart of this multi-generational tale. It begins in Korea, where Sunja, a young girl from a poor yet loving family, falls in love with Hansu, a much older man who neglects to tell her about his wife and children.

When she becomes pregnant, Sunja refuses to live as Hansu's mistress and her family honor is saved by marrying a kind hearted missionary who moves their new family to Japan on the eve of WWII. As Sunja's children and grandchildren face the hardships and prejudices that society inflicts upon them, that certain secret from the past throws a long shadow over their lives in most unexpected ways.

This is a sad at times yet also beautiful at times story that deals with the conflicts between love and duty, honesty and truth and the desire to stay true to heritage while wanting to belong to the majority in control. It's themes of cultural identity and family love are truly universal and I hope that this is not the only book award that Pachinko is in the serious running for:

I'm quite confident that Pachinko will be in the NBA shortlist, along with Jesmyn Ward's newest book, Sing,Unburied Sing, that is getting high praise from readers and critics alike.

The story is set in modern day Mississippi, where young Jojo and his younger sister Kayla live with their grandparents, Mam, who is dying from cancer and Pop, doing his best to take care of the household as well as raise his grandchildren right.

Jojo's mother Leonie is in and out of their lives, haunted by the death of her beloved brother and a persistent drug habit. When the father of her children is due to be released from prison,Leonie takes Jojo and Kayla, plus a friend of hers, along for the long ride across the state to be reunited with him. Their journey is fraught with numerous risks, not to mention the possibility of little to be gained by the end of it.

Jesmyn Ward has won the NBA before, for her novel Salvage the Bones, but unlike some award shows, I don't think that will be seen as a reason to set this work aside. In fact, a second win could change the game for her, taking these stories of heartfelt realism from the regular literary circles into a mainstream market with a wider audience for such lyrical yet harsh beauty:

 Meanwhile, the Man Booker Prize in England has announced their short list of fiction nominees, with the awards ceremony set for October 17.

 Over the years, the Man Booker has expanded their horizons for nomination, adding Canada and the US along with a few other countries for consideration. That has allowed for a strong variety of books to be featured and focused on, with a few breakout stars in their midst to be found as well.

One of those stars is Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, set in an unnamed country where erstwhile lovers,Nadia and Saeed, soon find that they have no choice but to flee for their lives.

Their method of transport are specially enpowered doors, placed in random areas that are well protected yet available for a price. Nadia and Saeed land on a Grecian island and are beginning to make a real life for themselves when more and more refugees flood in, causing them to be on the move again and again.

This search for home while the whole world is in chaos is a timely theme that the author engagingly embraces, offering a mix of magic and down to earthiness that makes this book more than just a talking point. It layers the evolving conflict with humanity, something that tends to be lost in the arguments yet is what makes this issue so relevant for fictional and real world folks alike:

Speaking of fictional and real people, George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo mixes and matches both in this novel, another big contender for the Man Booker.

The "bardo" of the title refers to a limbo like residence for the dead, a realm that is disturbed as Abraham Lincoln spends one long night at the family crypt to hold a one man vigil for his recently departed son Willie.

As most of the spirits relive their past mistakes in life and fight among themselves, two of them decided to help young Willie move on to the next world. Roger Bevins, who ended his life after a broken off romance, and Hans Vollman, who died by accident just as his new marriage was about to begin, take this responsibility for the young Lincoln on as the father is torn between his grief and responsibilities to the living.

Saunders has showcased his brand of off-beat storytelling before in his many short story collections but based on the reviews that I've seen and heard, this is next level work even for him. In a way, it would be oddly fitting(as well as weird) if a novel about an American president wins a British book award but stranger things have happened,I guess:

Well, I am happy that there is one book in this potential award winning bunch that I've read(and yes, will be rooting for) and I might try to read a couple of others but perhaps not just yet.

My hesitation isn't due to the quality of the work, it's more about dealing with the many books that I have on hand at the moment. One of those current reads will probably add a few new titles to my TBR piles, Books for Living by Will Schwalbe.

Schwalbe talks about a variety of books, ranging from The Girl on the Train to Stuart Little and Reading Lolita in Tehran, that in their own unintentional way taught him about different aspects of life such as trust, friendship and problem solving. The whole point of this book seems to be finding meaning in your reading without trying to make all of your reading meaningful, if that makes sense.

Well, take award winning(or potentially award winning) books for example-many people feel they have to get these books in order to be considered a "serious" reader, since any book up for a major award must be a meaningful read. However, if you don't feel any connection to the story during your reading of it(or find it hard to even get a good start there), there is no meaning to be found for you,especially if your true motive is only to impress others.

Better to try a couple of them out to see if they suit you or challenge you in a way that makes the page turning a pleasure rather than a chore. A book doesn't have to award winning to be a good read but it's a nice bonus when it does:

Preparing a plate full of FrightFall reading

Usually, I'm the type of person who grumbles about the holidays being rushed up,particularly when Halloween candy is on display right along side back-to-school sale notebooks.

However, I am getting ready for Halloween a bit early this year and it's all due to the Seasons of Reading annual FrightFall Readathon. Instead of the regular week or so, this readathon will be for the entire month of October, ending on All Hallow's Eve right about the witching hour(how appropriate indeed!).

 Since this is quite the literary undertaking, it only makes sense to start setting up my reading list as soon as can be. For the SOR readathons that have a scary theme, I tend to pick a Stephen King book to reread and this time out, my selection is Firestarter.

Having reviewed the 1984 film adaptation for Bad Movie Month over the summer, my interest in this novel was rekindled, you could say. I do remember the book being much more engaging than the lackluster pack of wet matches that Hollywood turned it into on screen.

The title character is Charlie McGee, a ten year old girl born with the power of pyrokenesis,aka being able to set things on fire with her mind, due to her parents taking part in a blind study while in college. That study was actually run by a secret government agency experiment called The Shop and the formula that they gave to those unsuspecting students gave those who survived special abilities such as mind control, which Charlie's dad Andy has a low grade version of at his command.

 Now those folks want to see what little Charlie can do, forcing father and daughter to be on the run. Capture is inevitable yet the real risk comes not from those who wish to control Charlie. Young Charlie finds herself at a crossroads when it comes to dealing with her power and she may have no choice but to burn a few bridges in order to figure out who's in charge. Should be fun and fascinating to revisit the original girl on fire here:

Not every book for FrightFall has to be in the horror genre. You can also read mysteries of all sorts as well and with that in mind, I picked up a copy of Miss Marple:The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie.

The twenty tales collected here are from other short story sets by the legendary Miss Christie such as The Tuesday Club Murders and Three Blind Mice. All feature the elderly yet lively lady from St. Mary Mead who manages to find the right person that committed murder among the small town folk around her.

I know that everyone's into Hercule Poirot right now, due to that remake of Murder on the Orient Express coming up soon, but Miss Marple is completely more charming and clever to me.

 Ever since I saw the movie version of The Mirror Crack'd(and yes, I read the book,too) with Angela Lansbury, she has been my favorite small town sleuth and reading these stories ,with a cup of tea at hand, ought to do very nicely for this occasion:

The next book on my list is actually doing double duty,as it is also my October pick for my Series-ous Reading challenge. I must confess that in the latter category, I am jumping very far ahead here as The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla is actually the eleventh book in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series and I've only officially finished the first four books.

However, I have gone out of order before with these particular books and none the worse for it. Also, this entry has a vampire theme and that is just so perfect for Halloween time.

The leading lady here is Sally Fitzhugh, whose interest in vampires is due to the popularity of a gothic novel called The Convent of Orsino, sort of the Twilight saga of the day. When rumors about her new neighbor, Lucien, the Duke of Belliston, being one of the undead, Sally can not help but meet him. While he turns out to be rather human(not to mention rather handsome), a series of strange murders on his property appear to be relying on that vampire rumor to be true.

Sally and Lucien find themselves having to team up in order to clear his name and prevent the true killer from striking again. With these books being set in Jane Austen's time, there is an added bonus of bookish pleasure to be found,especially as Jane liked a few scary stories herself back then:

Speaking of vampires, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things showcases a different side of the eternal night dweller's world. Our nighttime heroine is  Atl, a descendant of Aztec blood drinkers who is on the run from warring vamp gangs in Mexico City.

When she comes across Domingo, a street kid looking to survive any way he can, Atl sees him as nothing more than a portable meal on her way towards South America and freedom. However, the two of them form a bond that could possibly benefit them both in ways either of them couldn't imagine.

Having read her debut novel,Signal to Noise, I've been eager to check this one out,especially since this is a vampire book, a genre that I do enjoy. This is certainly not going to be a Twilight type of tale and that's good, as there is a real need for fresh blood when it comes to sanguinary storytelling these days:

There's still plenty of time to sign up for FrightFall, if you're interested and I do hope that this new month long format brings us many new reading friends to the party. One thing to remember is that you only have to read one scary book, so it is perfectly fine to have The Shining and Little Women on your FrightFall TBR. Hopefully, you won't have to use Joey from Friends' method of chilling out between chapters:

The first days of fall have me raking in bookish leaves

Now I know that it isn't officially fall, according to the calendar, but it certainly feels that way to me and the best way to start a new season off for me is making my now regular visit to the library.

Usually, I head right for the fiction sections but this time around, a display of non-fiction caught my eye(mainly due to a couple of the books on the table being ones I've recently read) as soon as I returned my latest loans. The theme was biography and The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell rang out loud and clear to me as a must-have.

W. Kamau Bell was the host of the sadly short lived Totally Biased  late night talk show on F/X and these days, doing a series for CNN called United Shades of America as well as the podcast Denzel Washington Is The Greatest Actor Of All Time Period. The book is a combo package of autobiography and essays, chronicling his life and times along with looks at the impact of childhood superheroes, game changing movies like Creed and dealing with daily racism.

Bell doesn't shy away from his own faults, detailing his development of social consciousness and merging it with his comedic voice and making amends for his mistakes, both public and private. The writing is filled with his particular brand of emotionally engaging and savvy humor that never allows the reader to not take his important points seriously.

As a fan of his work, this book is a wonderful insight into his talent and mindset, making me wish that he had another late night show on right now as we could certainly use his keen eye for observation on the current events/pop culture scene:

I did head over to the fiction shelves,of course, and couldn't resist grabbing a copy of Fredrik Backman's new novel Beartown. The title small town doesn't have much going for it, other than the local  hockey team that is on the verge of being in the championship game.

A good portion of that successful surge is due to Peter, their general manager who was recruited to return to his home town after his stint as a NHL player. However, when his star player Kevin is arrested due to an assault on his own daughter Maya, Peter has some hard choices to make as well as most of the town over which is more important, sports or justice?

Backman's prior books do have a blend of whimsy and darkness,so this story certainly sounds like one of his. Yet, this one may be more of a deep dive than A Man Called Ove or My Grandmother Says To Tell You That She's Sorry,judging on subjects at hand. One thing's for sure, it will be well worth finding out.

I also received a few books to review in the mail, including one that is the basis for an upcoming movie starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin was originally published in 2010 and showcases a pair of storm-crossed potential lovers; Ben, a talented surgeon and Ashley, a writer  heading to her own wedding.

When the two of them agree to share a charted flight in order to get home sooner, they never expected to spend more than a few hours together.

Yet, when their plane crashes and strands them in the snowy Utah mountains, Ben and Ashley have no choice but to stick together to survive, particularly as Ashley is too injured to find her own way back to civilization. During their travels, more than one threat looms ahead but there is one danger that they can't escape,love.

This does sound a little soap-operaish but it may be some good escapist fun here and hopefully the film adaptation stays true to the source material in the romance department(don't Pelican Brief us on this one,Hollywood!):

 A more recent release that landed in my mail box is the upcoming debut novel by Cara Delevingne(last seen as the Enchantress in Suicide Squad) that she co-wrote with Rowan Coleman and goes by the name Mirror,Mirror.

The title refers to the band that misfit high school friends Red,Leo,Naomi and Rose belong, where they share a love of music and sad home lives. The foursome feel stronger together but that all changes when Naomi suddenly vanishes and is then found later in a comatose state.

The remaining three have to play detective to find out if what happened to Naomi was intentional or not and if so, who did it? And is that person out to get the rest of them? Kind sounds like Pretty Little Liars meets Josie and the Pussycats in Riverdale but hey, why not? This might very well be the kind of book that may not be on the Top 40 yet has a good beat that you can dance to:

My fall reading plate is full and then some,folks, but the search for a good read is a never-ending one. No matter how many books you have on hand, you always want to find that special story that makes the whole world go away and mundane tasks like answering the phone truly nonessential.

Such a quest can not be denied,although you might have to delay it for basic life reasons as stuff like phone messages do tend to pile up there:

The Rook takes me to a new level in my Series-ous Reading game

Along with catching up on a couple of historical fiction series lingering on my TBR piles, my year of Series-ous Reading also permits me to try out the first entry in other genres such as sci-fi/fantasy and for the end of summer, The Rook by Daniel O'Malley was certainly a great blockbuster of a read in that area.

The story introduces you to Mynfanwy Thomas, a young woman who wakes up in a local park in London with no memory yet surrounded by dead bodies, all of which are wearing latex gloves. Now, that's an intriguing set-up but trust me, that will seem rather tame as things start rolling along.

Mynfanwy's only clue as to who she is comes from a letter that her pre-mind wipe self wrote to her future self, as she was given several heads-up from random psychics about this situation. Turns out, she works for a special secret government agency called The Checquy, one that specializes in containing supernatural events and is run by people with unusual powers such as appearing in other people's dreams and sweating tear gas.


Her own powers allow her to control the nervous systems of others, one that was thought to be only activated by touch.

 However, free of her standard shy nature, Mynfanwy discovers that her abilities are much more extensive than she or anyone else knew, yet she did learn a major secret that caused one of her Checquy cohorts to have her memory erased.

Given the option of investigating into this matter or going off to make a new life, Mynfanwy decides to stay on, using the numerous letters that her prior self wrote as a guide to discovering the truth:

This search for what lead to her memory loss forces Mynfanwy to take up her position at work as a Rook, a high level executive of sorts.

While there, she has to hide her amnesia and hopefully not make anyone suspicious of her, despite the matching set of black eyes and other bruises on her person.

 Returning to work does give her plenty of access to information that could solve her personal mystery and it also gives Mynfanwy access to a variety of suspects such as her fellow Rook Gestalt, who is one persona shared among four bodies or Bishop Alrich, a vampire who was born from an egg. There's also recent activity,such as a bizarre purple slime that traps a budding cult in Bath, that indicates that an old enemy of the Checquy known as The Grafters may be rising again.

As Mynfanwy does her best to appear as her former self and look for clues as to who betrayed her, she also gets a chance to develop a stronger personality and more of a life outside her work as well.

This is one of my favorite aspects of the story, as the letters to the new Mynfanwy show the sad,lonely existence she was leading in this strange sector of the world and this reset has a lot of benefits to offer her along with the losses.

 I love how she manages to make unexpected friends and allies along the way, such as her assistant Ingrid, who knows more than she seems and Shantay, a visitor from the American branch of the Checquy known as Croatoan whose special powers pitch in when Mynfanwy gets overwhelmed by her own special skills:

It's great how O'Malley balances out the offbeat elements of the story with the solid character development of our leading lady, a person who we get to know before and after the major event that changes her life occurs.

There's also some wonderful spots of humor, such as a scene where a psychic animal reading goes wrong which leads to a debate over whether or not to dispose of the fool who ruined the event in the first place(don't worry, there is no onscreen harm shown to the duck in question. Yes, a psychic duck, I am so not kidding about that).

At the moment, there is only one sequel to The Rook which came out last year entitled Stiletto and word of mouth has been excellent for that one as well. I do intend to read Stiletto in the hopefully near future and while I have heard that you don't have to read The Rook first to enjoy it, I highly recommend doing so.

This book is a smart,quirky blast and a good way to get to know Mynfanwy Thomas's world which is as amazing odd as any wonderland out there:

Well, with summer now over(for the most part), it's back to the stacks for my September selection which is Stephanie Barron's Jane and the Stillroom Maid.

This fifth book in the Jane Austen Mystery series takes our heroine to Derbyshire, where the shocking discovery of a body holds more than one surprise to be solved.

Derbyshire is also a key spot for Jane Austen fans, as a good portion of Pride & Prejudice is set in that part of England, especially noted as where the fabled estate of Mr. Darcy is supposed to be. Perhaps the inspiration for Pemberley might have a few clues for our detective version of Our Dear Jane? We shall see:

Acquiring some autumn friendly reads

With Labor Day weekend about to begin, it only feels right to start stacking up those books for heavy duty fall reading time.

 Granted, you don't necessarily have to read "serious" books but with the cooler temperatures coming, along with those beautiful color changing leaves, sweaters and hot chocolate, it does inspire one to have something a little more thoughtful on hand, rather than the lighter fare that summer seems to invite.

 That's one of the reasons that I decided to hold off on reading Annie Proulx's Barkskins until autumn. For another, it's a good long book that tells the tale of two families setting themselves up in 17th century Canada(known as New France back then).

As Rene and Charles take up their load as indentured tree cutters to a feudal lord(in hopes of being given land of their own on day), the two friends find themselves going down very different roads to making their own fate.

While Charles flees his obligations and creates a fortune for himself within the lumber industry, Rene is bound by marriage to a native woman which makes them both outsiders on both sides of the working class community they're in.

The novel follows several generations of each man's descendants as the environmental impact of the lumber business affects slow yet steady social changes upon them all. Other than Brokeback Mountain, I haven't read any of Proulx's work and maybe a long book like this can be a daunting place to start. However, I do enjoy a good meaty saga story and this certainly sounds like that to me:

For more historical fiction flair, I feel like diving into some Tudor themed fare and Three Sisters,Three Queens by Philippa Gregory should be more than suitable for this season.

Two of the sisters here are actually sisters-in-law, with Catherine of Aragon becoming Queen of England and having to deal with the resentments of Henry's sister Margaret who is made to marry the King of Scotland in order to secure an alliance between the two countries.

In addition, Margaret's little sister Mary manages to marry the man her big sister truly loves, only to find herself in need of family support when she becomes a widow and secretly remarries without royal consent. This is fine melodrama worthy of any prime time series and I hope it gets adapted for the small screen at some point:

Having recently read Alison Weir's most recent Anne Boleyn novel, I thought it would be interesting to tackle another one of her books that indirectly deals with the Tudor drama.

Innocent Traitor tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, who was manipulated into taking the crown, due to her brief engagement to Henry the VIII's son Edward, in order to prevent "Bloody" Mary Tudor and her Catholic leanings to take over the country. Jane's reign was sad and short yet many still admire her quiet nobility as she staid true to her Protestant faith and met her end with dignity.

I really don't know much about Lady Jane and since Weir is a historian as well as a novelist, this book ought to be a good introduction to this supporting player whose time on the world stage was brief but memorable:

For something a little closer to modern times, I'm going with Kiss Carlo by Adriana Trigiani. Yes, this did come out during the summer but something about this has more of a fall flavor to me.

In 1949, Nicky Castone is fresh out of the army and wants more out of life than driving a cab for his uncle's car service and planning to someday marry his sweetheart Peachy DePino.

 By secretly taking part in a local Shakespeare production, he starts to feel complete yet complicated as his passion for the theater also includes a growing passion for Calla Borelli, the theater owner's daughter.

 When a prime opportunity arrives for Nicky to showcase his acting skills via an impersonation of an expected guest at a festival, things get even more complicated and becomes way too much like a Shakespearean comedy of errors for all involved. Trigiani's storytelling skills excel when she mixes romance, drama and family love into a special stew of a story that should be a heartwarming read for the chilly autumn days to come:

These aren't the only books I plan to read this fall(I do have a month long readathon for October, after all!) but a solid selection that ought to set me up just fine. My summer reading was good yet  part of my Labor Day plans this weekend involve finishing up a few of those intended reads that I haven't quite completed so far.

 While I do feel a twinge of regret in not getting into every book that I intended to this summer, at least I did some good reading and really need to make that glass of seasonal iced tea half full instead of half empty. I hope all of you turning those last of summer reading pages out there try and feel that way as well. Happy reading, no matter what the season!:

Bad Movie Month barks at the moon with Silver Bullet

Welcome back,folks, for the Bad Movie Month grand finale in our Worst of Stephen King series and this is quite the howler indeed.

The source material for 1985's Silver Bullet is a unique book in the King canon, as it was a collaboration between King and artist Berni Wrightson who originally intended this project to be a calendar.

 Cycle of the Werewolf is at best a novella(aka "novelette") about a small town being terrorized by a killer who strikes during full moons. A young boy in a wheelchair discovers that the local menace is a werewolf and teams up with his older sister and uncle to stop the monster, who is now targeting them as prey for the next major moon rise.

Sounds like a fun little story,right? Well, it is but in truth, the plot is secondary to the amazing artistry of Wrightson's illustrations and put together, King's tiny terror tale works well with the artwork in a peanut butter and jelly style.

However, the film adaptation has none of the visual flair that Wrightson brought to the book and instead of a PB&J, you get something that's more like a potato salad and jelly sandwich.

The special effects are particularly bad when it comes to the werewolf, which looks like a mutant bear costume rejected by Party City. There is some variety in the make-up department in one dream sequence,where Reverend Lowe(Everett McGill) finds himself presiding over a funeral service taken over by a lycanthrope congregation, right down to the lady playing the church organ. This is supposed to be scary but it plays out more like a bad comedy skit:

Why is the good reverend having this particular dream? Spoiler alert-he's the werewolf!

Trust me, the movie is quick to spill the blood soaked beans on that aspect of the plot, so don't feel too bad about knowing that before you see this sucker.

Meanwhile, our young hero, Marty Coslaw(Corey Haim) discovers the true identity of the monster late one summer night, thanks to his less than reliable Uncle Red(Gary Busey, in fine for him form) providing his favorite nephew with a rocket powered wheelchair,named Silver Bullet, of course, and illegal fireworks to boot!

See, due to the recent string of gruesome murders,which includes one of Marty's pals, the annual fireworks show was canceled, which seems to bother our boy hero much more than the grisly demise of his friend. Sure, kids do the darnest things, even at the worst of times, but it just comes across as a set-up for young Marty to shoot off his last firework as an act of self defense:

After that, Marty gets his big sister Jane(Megan Follows) to do a search for the new one eyed person in town and sure enough, she sees that it's Rev. Lowe. Other than the bandage over the guy's eye, Jane's biggest clue is a baseball bat found in Lowe's garage, which used to belong to the local bartender(Lawrence Tierney in a truly waste of his time role).

Said bat was used against the bartender during a vigilante raid gone wrong(which is par for the course as those "private justice" outings are never a good idea) and kept as a souvenir, I guess? So many question arise from this that are never answered.

Why would anyone, let alone a werewolf, take a thing like that home with them and then shove under a pile of cans being saved for recycling? It's a community project, certainly someone else might have found well before Jane did and recognized the "peace maker" logo on it!

For that matter, why would a werewolf use a bat in the first place? Sure, it was conveniently on hand at the time but why not leave it there as no one has been convicted on werewolf murder charges due to fingerprints! Do werewolves even have or able to leave fingerprints?  So many questions. I know Stephen King wrote the screenplay but this script feels like a first draft rather than an adaptation.

Oh, just one more question-why does the werewolf use the bat AGAIN, when the sheriff comes a-calling? What, you can only use your claws during an official moonlight hunt, not a casual attack?:

To be fair, this could have been a good small town scare show, an Our Town meets The Wolfman, but in the end, Silver Bullet fizzles out faster than any of the fireworks that Uncle Red gave to Marty.

Thank you one and all, for joining in the fun of this Stephen King fest of film flops. Despite the mixed reviews on the Dark Tower movie that came out earlier this month, I still hope to see it and more than likely will enjoy it. I'll be doing a reading challenge in 2018 that cover the Dark Tower books, so stay tuned for that,folks!

In the meantime, we do have the new film version of IT to look forward to this fall and many other King related movies to arrive on screens big and small in the near future. Enough to create a cinematic universe? Perhaps but then again, there are other worlds that this!:

Getting ready for fall reading with these upcoming September/October reads

Well, it's the last week in August and we all know what that means; time to start thinking about fall and all of the lovely things we need to start shopping for.

Granted, some autumn must-haves are more fun than others such as back to school supplies for those of us who don't have to go back or send anyone off with a packed lunch and fresh stack of notebooks.
( what can I say, fall in New York does make you want to have a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils on hand,folks!).

One truly fun shopping trip for the season is book buying and hopefully, some of these September and October new releases will find their way onto your list or at the very least, you'll feel the need to make room for them:

DRAMA CLASS:

 In Liv Constantine's debut novel, The Last Mrs. Parrish, we meet Amber Patterson, a young woman whose major goal in life is to be the replacement wife for a wealthy husband.

The couple she has in mind is Daphne and Jackson Parrish, the kind of people who seem to have everything and in Amber's mind, don't deserve such luxuries. She begins by befriending Daphne during the planning of a charitable event(even to the point of pretending she had a family member with the same disease) and slowly yet surely works her way into the inner family circle.

Amber is determined to stay one step ahead of anyone who wants to block her path toward the life she feels she deserves. However, as time goes on and things change in unexpected ways, it's not clear who is luring who into a fool-proof trap. Liv Constantine is actually a pen name for a pair of siblings(Lynne and Valerie) and based upon what I've read so far of this book, this sinister sister act have a fine future in riveting drama there(October):

Author Nicole Krauss tracks two emotional journeys in her latest novel, Forest Dark, which do happen to indirectly intersect internationally.

Jules Epstein is a retired lawyer, tired of his regular life and at the age of sixty-eight, takes a trip to Tel Aviv to seek some clarity into what he should do next. Frustrated writer Nicole also heads to Tel Aviv, in search of literary inspiration as well as a way out of her broken down marriage.

Both of them meet charismatic people who feel that they know just the right path for each of them to take yet neither of them are sure about being lead down these particular garden paths. Krauss does have a good reputation for writing stories about self reflective characters and this books sounds like a smartly seasoned simmer of a read to warm you up during the chilly days of fall(September).

COOKING LESSONS ABOUT LIFE:

Speaking of simmering, Lia Huber gives us a taste of her edible approach to life and family love in Nourished. 

 In this memoir, she chronicles her travels, starting with a village in Guatemala where her communal cooking offered up a moment of true inspiration to the island of Corfu, that showed her the simple pleasures of food to  California wine country, where she felt her life's work could begin.

Huber interweaves her personal accounts with recipes that reflect her growing desire to share good food and positive energy with others. If you're looking for
a heartfelt approach to family cooking as well as good living, this ought to be a savvy page turning delight for your culinary bookshelf(October):

A HUNK OF BURNING HISTORICAL FICTION: Ken Follett returns to the town of Kingsbridge, where two of his bestselling books, The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End were set, with another epic novel entitled A Column of Fire.

In 1558, all of England is in uproar as divisions between Catholics and Protestants grow deeper and more intense. None of that matters to Ned Willard as his only interest in life is to marry his beloved Margery Fitzgerald yet they are torn apart by the religious divide.

As Ned joins the employ of Queen Elizabeth, Margery goes in full in to spread the Protestant faith but can their love overcome such obstacles in the end? Follett is a fine hand at creating such engaging and elaborate historical dramas as this and fans of his prior work should be delighted to have this series rounded out nicely with a third entry(September):

A SWEET STACK OF SCARY STORIES: With Halloween on the autumn horizon, the urge for fearful fiction will be keenly felt. A celebration of that particular genre comes from Grady Hendrix(and Will Errickson) in the gruesomely gorgeous Paperbacks from Hell.

Hendrix does more than just showcase the amazingly offbeat cover art from horror books of the 1970s and 80s, he goes over the roots of that growing wave of fiction as well as the different trends that came and went over the years.

With special focus given to cover artists who stood out in their field and in-depth discussion of the very strange plots that unfolded across these petrifying pages, Paperbacks from Hell is a good source for finding new avenues of horror entertainment, along with some old school fear flicks to boot(September):

Meanwhile, Stephen King brings us a new flight of fancy, this time teaming up with his son Owen for Sleeping Beauties. In this strange new world, women are prone to a bizarre illness that occurs during sleep as a membrane wraps them up and keeps them in a coma like state.

Most of the world is affected by this "sleeping sickness" but the women's prison in one Appalachian town is not only directly involved, a possible answer to the growing problem may be among them. A stranger called Eve Black appears to be immune to the sickness and perhaps can be the source of a cure.

However, her arrival, like the disease, may be more of a curse than a blessing. King has partnered with other writers before but it should be interesting to see how this family affair works itself on the page(September):

For a sweetly sinister Halloween treat, Silvia Moreno-Garcia introduces us to The Beautiful Ones, especially Antonina" Nina" Beaulieu, a young woman preparing for her first Grand Season in society.

Her prospects in marriage are daunting, despite her family's wealth and connections, as Nina happens to have telekinetic powers that already have caused quite a stir of whispers at many social gatherings.

Nina does find herself being courted by Hector, a performer that shares her unique talents and who is eager to help her learn to control them. As their relationship blossoms, the potential for wedded bliss is great yet there are a few secrets and lies, along with magic, that could doom their love for all time.

Moreno-Garcia is an amazing writer and thanks to good word of mouth, I discovered the joys of her first novel Signal to Noise and eager to get my hands on Certain Dark Things, which came out earlier this year. Don't wait too long to be entranced by the beguiling charms of such a creative force of nature that she truly is(October):

I hope you all have a good time in your fall preparations and yes, even the hectic frenzy that back-to-school shopping can create. Just don't fuss over the kind of paper needed or special erasers on sale and you'll be fine:

The bright and the dark side of solar eclipse cinema

I'm doing a special Sunday post today, in honor of the solar eclipse due to arrive tomorrow in the USA. A significant scientific moment for our country and not to be missed,even on TV.

While my particular neck of the woods is not within the line of totality(aka, a place on the map expected to be fully affected), this promises to be quite an event as one thing that pop culture has taught me, it's that a solar eclipse is an event that portends change.

From books to film over the years, a solar eclipse has often been seen as something that borders on the mystical and could tilt the scales for either good or evil. To showcase this point better, here are a handful of cinematic examples of what a solar eclipse can do:

BREAK A CURSE: For many of us, the 1985 fantasy film Ladyhawke instantly springs to mind as the leading romantic couple(played by Rutget Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer) are both near and far to each other, thanks to the complexities of a rogue bishop's curse.

Hauer's knight is enchanted to be human by day and a wolf at night, while his lady love Pfeiffer is a hawk by sunrise and a woman by sunset. Not an easy thing to work around, to say the least.

However, there is one chance to break that spell by being together in human form and part of that cure involves "a day without night and a night without day", a notion that Hauer's character finds hard to believe until it actually happens and truly helps him save the day:

CONCEAL THE ARRIVAL OF A SPACE INVADER: In Little Shop of Horrors, hapless Seymour is constantly asked about his finding of the seemingly innocent looking Audrey II and his story is a simple one told in song.

During a regular visit to his favorite exotic plant store, a total eclipse of the sun occurs and when daylight returns, this strange new plant that he swore wasn't there before just catches his eye. As we all know what happened to Seymour and friends afterwards, a good lesson to take away from this is not to go plant shopping during an eclipse or immediately after!:

CONCEAL A CRIME: As Stephen King shows us in one of his more realistic horror stories, Dolores Claiborne, sometimes a solar eclipse is a dark blessing in disguise.

Both the book and the 1995 film adaptation turn on battered wife Delores' decision to do away with her horrible husband Joe St. George during an eclipse. Since they live in a remote island community, it's the perfect distraction for both her vicious spouse and local authorities, more concerned with keeping folks on the water safe from harm.

It's a harrowing scene in the book yet the film version is highly enhanced by Kathy Bates' performance, a perfect storm of anger, heartbreak and calculation in order to save herself and her daughter from the daily terror that is Joe St. George:

COMPLETE A QUEST: In the first Lara Croft: Tomb Raider film from 2001, our heroine must find the pieces of a "Triangle of Light" in order to take advantage of a special planetary alignment that is capped off by, you guessed it, a solar eclipse.

To get that last piece, Lara has to play leap frog with a giant moving model of the solar system, with plenty of bad guys hot on her heels, trying to get to the sun where that special prize is to be found. Does she succeed?  Come on, whose name is in the title there, folks?:

With that, I hope everyone has a good time in checking out the eclipse and unlike what you see in the movies, do wear those protective glasses if you 're taking part in real time,folks!

On another note, I am happy to see many of us here in America uniting together for a positive purpose, considering the tragic events in Charlottesville last week.  Condolences to all of those who were directly affected and sincere apologies to those expecting a mature and thoughtful response from our sadly current leader.

 Since we are clearly not going to get any meaningful support from the highest office in our land, it is up to all of us to look for strength and unity to square off against home grown evil from each other and I believe we're more than up to the challenge.

 In the meanwhile, let us look forward to better things such as the joy of being witness to a truly once in a lifetime event that should lighten our hearts indeed:

Checking out the fall fear fest at the Movie Trailer Park

While it is much too soon to think about Halloween(which never stops those early candy displays from showing up in stores by Labor Day), Hollywood already has a good number of fear filled flicks ready to roll for the autumn movie going season.

Some of these films will be out well before All Hallow's Eve,as well as after, and not all of them are out-and-out horror shows. So, whether you prefer your cinematic scares straight up with a twist or slow baked into a mystery meat pie, these trailers should serve as a sinister sampler of what's to come.

First up is Flatliners, which is a sequel and/or a reboot of the original 1990 movie about medical school students experimenting with life after death. Kiefer Sutherland does reprise his role from that film but the main focus of the plot is on Courtney(Ellen Page) who recruits her friends into joining her high tech quest to break on through to the other side.

As someone who has seen the 1990 version, this looks more like a reboot than a sequel to me yet why anyone felt this story needed to be followed up is beyond me.  The story doesn't seem that much different other than younger faces(Nina Dobrev,Diego Luna and Kiersey Clemons) and better special effects doing a modern re-enactment here. Then again, there may be more to this movie than meets the eye, we shall see in September:

Coming out in time for Halloween and on a Friday the 13th no less, Happy Death Day tags along for college student Tree Gelbman(Jessica Rothe)'s birthday on campus which ends in her gruesome demise.

However, Tree wakes up to discover that it's her birthday again and she must discover the identity of the masked killer before she meets her deadly fate yet again. Yep, this is Groundhog's Day crossed with Scream yet I suspect without none of the original creativity along for the ride.

This might be a fun little slasher movie, I suppose, but I don't know which is worse, the dopey mask that the killer wears or the constant replay of that goofy song that Tree chose as her ringtone for the day:

For something featuring grown-ups, director Darren Aronofsky brings us mother! this September and yes, the exclamation point and lower case lettering is intentional.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Grace, the young wife of Eli(Javier Bardem), who is helping her husband fix up their rather isolated country home. The arrival of  a pair of strangers(Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer) sets off a strange string of events that disrupts their happy harmony or was it so happy to begin with?

The vibe that I'm getting from this trailer is in the vein of those European influenced suspense films of the 1960s, such as Rosemary's Baby or The Collector. Whether or not the source of the terror here is real or imagined, this does look like a film that will stir up plenty of discussion and hopefully, be worth talking about:

In the suspense section, we find The Snowman, an adaptation of one of the best selling Harry Hole detective novels from Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbo. Michael Fassbinder plays Harry, who is on the hunt for a serial killer that may have resurfaced from the past.

Working with new recruit Katrine Bratt(Rebecca Ferguson), Harry has to connect the current wave of murders to several cold cases in order to track down the killer, who has threatened to strike again at the next snow fall.

Nesbo does have a strong following and casting Fassbinder in the lead role is not too shabby. My only doubt comes from the end shot in this trailer that features a horrible surprise in a garage that might elicit more giggles than gasps from it's intended audience.

I may be wrong on that but my instinct is telling me that particular reveal may make the difference between The Snowman becoming a trick or a treat at the box office this October:

To round things up, Kenneth Branagh is not only directing the latest version of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, he is playing the lead role of detective Hercule Poirot as well.

That could work either for or against him, as not only is Poirot one of the most popular fictional detectives in pop culture history, several actors have portrayed him most memorable in the past, such as Albert Finney in the 1974 adaptation and David Suchet in the acclaimed BBC series from 1989 to 2013.

Folks do have their preferences when it comes to Poirot(personally, I enjoyed Peter Ustinov's take on the character) and many fans may be overly critical of Branagh's performance. Those arguments ought to be engaging, to say the least.

However, the real reason that most people will go to see this movie is not for the whodunnit plot(it has been adapted four times, after all) but the large cast, which includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Leslie Odom Jr, Johnny Depp and Daisy Ridley to name a few.

It is fitting to have this film arrive in theaters in November as we will certainly be treated to quite the Thanksgiving feast of acting with the possibility of certain performances being deliciously sweet and sinister. If any more luck, hopefully this classic mystery will be a savory relief from our real world terrors and set the tone for better things to come from the reel world as well: