Well, the inaugural South Sound Book Crawl was a lot fun. Thanks to everyone who participated. We hope you got your passports fully stamped, and we look forward to seeing everyone again. Don't forget that you have a year to use your prize stamp. Get it done before next year. Like that's going to be difficult for book people.
And now, our regular assortment of snark and books.
First up is Tom Hanks's debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. A while back, Hanks put out a collection of short fiction, which demonstrated the man knew his way around a typewriter, and so we're not terribly surprised he found the time to write a novel. It's a book about how Hollywood works (or doesn't), and it's the story of several generations of young men coming to terms with life in the 20th century as seen through the lens of a superhero comic/blockbuster movie. Naturally, there are tantrums, excesses, and aw-shucks moments throughout the book. There's a comic book backbone to the story, which Hanks himself wrote, because Hanks is the sort of fellow who is one of those multi-hyphenates.
And speaking of hyphenates, Shonda Rhimes has teamed with Julia Quinn on the next Bridgerton project. This one is Queen Charlotte, and it takes place a few decades before the Bridgerton series. This one is about the romance between Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and King George III, the ruler of the British empire. Charlotte isn't about to give her heart to the King, of course, and the King has all sorts of secrets that need guarding. And, as the pages fly by, Charlotte changes her mind and the King's secrets . . . well, let's hope they get all sorted before things fall apart, right?
And speaking of secrets, here is a new collection from Alexander McCall Smith. The Private Lives of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even is a kinder and gentler collection of stories about espionage and retribution. Think John Le Carré, but the stakes are more like who gets tea and who doesn't, instead of the downfall of the Empire or some such. We'll even go so far as to say that The Private Lives of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even is a "cozy" revenge book. "Oh, gosh. We should punish that evildoer, but he does look very contrite. Perhaps we'll not offer him a scone this afternoon. That'll show him the error of his ways. Oh! And make sure he has an umbrella for the walk home. It does look like it may be rather damp this afternoon."
Oh, that reminds us: Matt Haig's The Midnight Library is out in paperback this week, for the three of you who haven't read it yet. Finally, you can gush about it to everyone without someone getting fussy about spoilers. Except for, you know, those three people, but whatever. They've had nearly three years to get their acts together.
Also, for those waiting for the paperback edition of Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, we have bad news for you.
Meanwhile, Martin Cruz Smith is back with a new Arkady Renko novel. Independence Square takes place in the summer of 2021, and sees Renko getting swept up in the politics surrounding the Russian encroachment of Ukraine. Smith has been writing Renko novels for nearly forty years now (has it really been that long since Gorky Park came out?), and there's a fluid familiarity with the character. Nothing has changed, even though everything has, and Renko is still the one good cop in all of Russia. He's still trying to make a difference in a world that is perpetually on the verge of falling apart. Here's hoping that there's always another Renko novel coming.
And here is Atalanta, Jennifer Saint's new novel about the only female member of the Argonauts. Abandoned by her family as a baby, Atalanta is raised by bears and watched over by the goddess Artemis. Naturally, this girl grows up to be a woman destined for adventure, but it's a world that might not be ready for a strong-willed, keen-eyed woman of independent spirit. Recommended.
And speaking of strong-spirits, here is Helen Yoon's Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur? A little girl has mistakenly washed all the mud off of her invisible dinosaur and now she can't find him. He's bigger than a panda and likes jelly sandwiches, and . . . well, maybe she can draw us a picture to help us find him. Yoon's charming illustrations make this children's picture book delightful. We're fans.
And speaking of scaly friends, here is Moniquill Blackgoose's To Shape a Dragon's Breath, a novel about a young indigenous person who finds a dragon's egg and bonds with the hatchling. On the one hand, this is cool because now she's a Person Who Belongs To a Dragon; on the other hand, she's a bit of an outcast and the colonizer-run dragon academy isn't keen on having the locals enroll. While the shape of this plot is familiar, Blackgoose's strong voice and background lift this one up.
And speaking of new fantasy series, here is Mark Lawrence's The Book That Wouldn't Burn. Lawrence knows his way around an intricate fantasy plot, and this time around, he's eschewing the big canvas political machinations with swords and wizards for something a little different. There's a boy who has lived his entire life in a dusty citadel filled with books. There's a girl who has always lived on the fringe, where nightmares dwell. Together, they discover a plot, and everything unravels from there.
And speaking of things unraveling, here is Andrew Joseph White's Hell Followed With Us, which is the story of a Benji, a bioweapon, and what happens when you let fear consume your heart. Hell Followed With Us has been receiving all sorts of awards for its ferocity and its urgency, and even though it's all couched as a metaphor, Hell Followed With Us is a clear-eyed, fiery-tongued condemnation of current legislative trends.
And for all of you Regency fans out there, here is the latest in Ian Mortimer's guides to time traveling through history. The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain is a handbook for folks who find themselves swept up in a temporal rift and deposited somewhere between 1789 and 1830. We'll note here that if you end up in 1785 or 1836, you are out of luck. Keep it tight when you time travel, dear readers. Stick to the prescribed eras. Don't be wandering off on your own, thinking you're going to find some interesting corner of history that hasn't been properly illuminated. You're going to end up in a ditch, covered in who knows what sort of goo, while wearing the wrong sort of trousers. Don't be that person. Stick to the plan. Get your Mortimer.
Really. We don't think this needs explaining, but there's always someone who steps on a butterfly in the Late Cretaceous and poof! Here we are.
Anyway, tread carefully out there, dear readers. Plan for warm weather, because apparently that's what we're going to have these next few weeks. Keep working on those warrens and reading nooks. We'll endeavor to keep the shelves stocked and the A/C running. You know where to find us. Well, the streets have probably moved, but we're a fixed point in the universe.
