THE BOY FROM THE WOODS by Harlan Coben

March 17, 2020

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From the publisher:

A man with a mysterious past must find a missing teenage girl in this shocking thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Run Away.

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn’t know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.

No one seems to take Naomi Pine’s disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can’t ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it’s too late.

Harlan Coben introduces a new character for his readers with this book. It is a man simply called Wilde due to his very unusual past.

Wilde was discovered as a boy roaming free in the woods. He has no memory of where he came from, but does speak and understand English and had lived and survived for years through entering homes of people living on or near the woods and taking food and clothing. Once picked up, he is taken in and adopted by a family, goes to school and serves in the military.

Now as an adult, Wilde makes a living as a person that does things for other people. He learns about the disappearance of Naomi Pine, the daughter of a man that he knew in school but does not react until asked to find her by Heather Crimstein, who is a television criminal attorney. Heather has learned from her grandson that Naomi has been relentlessly bullied in school and may have fled that life.

The search for Naomi and events following her disappearance are action-filled and as described by the author constitute the draw of the book for the reader. The story, while interesting, is not as mesmerizing as the normal Harlan Coben book generally is. The first section features a great deal of conversation with little action and the actions of Wilde in looking for the lost girl come across as a bit disjointed. The book is by Harlan Coben which makes it desirable but an ending that seems to terminate the series without setting up another Wilde novel could be what the author wants in testing the main character.

3/2020 Paul Lane

THE BOY FROM THE WOODS by Harlan Coben. Grand Central Publishing (March 17, 2020). ISBN: 978-1538748145. 384p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

THIS TIME AROUND by Stacey Lynn

March 16, 2020

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Love in the Heartland, Book 2

From the publisher:

From bestselling author Stacey Lynn comes This Time Around, an emotional and sexy standalone contemporary romance!

Five years ago I married the man of my dreams. He was supposed to be my last first kiss–my happily ever after. He promised to hand me the world, but in one night, all of those promises were shattered.

Now, I was barely surviving the tragic loss of my husband, struggling daily to manage what was left of the life we’d promised to build together, when Cooper Hawke unexpectedly walked into my life.

The Hollywood heartthrob had plenty secrets of his own and his eyes held the same darkness as mine. I couldn’t stop myself from needing to know why. And as much as I tried to keep him out of my heart, he slipped past all my defenses.

We both had pasts that destroyed our trust and had broken our hearts, but nothing will stop Cooper from trying to convince me we could have it all this time around.

This was one of the free ebooks I found through BookBub. I believe that ship has sailed, but it is worth a buy. This is a self-published book, but it has great editing, so kudos!

Rebecca is a very young widow, and she throws herself into running the farm she and her husband worked. Her brother helps out occasionally, but she is stressed, to say the least. Her uncle, a Hollywood agent, decides to send one of his clients to stay in the guest house on the farm. Cooper has just gone through a very public, very ugly divorce and needs to escape the media for a while. Rebecca is quite skeptical; can Hollywood’s favorite leading man handle farmwork?

Rebecca and Cooper both have had tragedy in their lives and become fast friends….and then something more. Lynn writes great sex and if that is not your thing, skip this book. This was a one night read for me, I couldn’t put it down.

3/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THIS TIME AROUND by Stacey Lynn. Stacey Lynn Books (April 10, 2018). ISBN 978-1942561095. 162p.

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THE TWO LIVES OF LYDIA BIRD by Josie Silver

March 15, 2020

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From the publisher:

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible.

But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.

So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life–and perhaps even love–again.

But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.

Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.

Written with Josie Silver’s trademark warmth and wit, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a powerful and thrilling love story about the what-ifs that arise at life’s crossroads, and what happens when one woman is given a miraculous chance to answer them.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­I enjoyed Josie Silver’s debut novel, One Day in December, so I was excited when I saw that she had a new book out.  Yet, after reading the plot description I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a premise I was going to enjoy.  I should not have worried because Silver does a good job handling a unique, and heartbreaking, premise. Whether you chose to believe that Lydia’s sleeping medication actually provides her with a gateway to an alternate universe where her fiancé is still alive, or that it is all an elaborate coping mechanism created by her subconscious, Silver thoughtfully conveys Lydia’s grief and her journey through the process.

A therapist’s advice to Lydia at the beginning of the book that the grieving process is something that she should “pass through sentiently”, is first met with a fair amount of mocking.  Yet, as it becomes more and more taxing on Lydia to move between her two lives, she begins to realize there may be some truth to the statement.  Helping Lydia through her grief are her mom and her sister Elle.  While the two men in her life are certainly important (her fiancé Freddie in the world she enters when she sleeps, and Freddie’s best friend Jonah in her real life), I appreciated that Silver puts much of the focus on Lydia’s relationship with her mom and sister.  They are the two who ground and support her and the relationship between the three women ends up being the most important one in the book.  A moving title where Silver thoughtfully handles Lydia’s journey and her struggle to move forward with her life.

3/2020 Caitlin Brisson

THE TWO LIVES OF LYDIA BIRD by Josie Silver. Ballantine Books (March 3, 2020). ISBN 9780593135235. 432 p.

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FROM ALASKA WITH LOVE by Ally James

March 14, 2020

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From the publisher:

A soldier has six weeks to convince the only woman he has ever longed for to take a chance on life with him in Alaska….

Sara’s letters were the only bright spot during Gabe’s devastating tour in Iraq. With each new correspondence he fell harder, needed her more, wanted to be with her. Now, after initially rejecting his offer to meet, she’s shown up at the door of his isolated cabin in Alaska looking for…what? Gabe’s not sure what made Sara change her mind, but he knows he never wants to let her go.

Major Gabe Randall is everything Sara Ryan wants but nothing she feels she deserves. A modern-day spinster, Sara hides behind family obligations and the safe, quiet life she’s resigned herself to living. But secretly, even though she may have stretched the truth about who she is in her letters to him, she wants Gabe. Will he still want her when he discovers the real woman behind the pen?

Once they meet, Gabe asks her for six weeks in Alaska. Six weeks to spend getting to know each other, and then she’ll have to decide whether they are better together or apart.

I have long been intrigued with Alaska. I’ve never been, and I am one of those people who is always cold so whenever I mention a possible vacation to Alaska, my family just laughs at me. Whenever a book comes along that references Alaska, I’m in. Apparently, it’s as close as I’m going to get.

The story starts out with Sara, a nanny for her brother and sister-in-law’s daughter, responding to a call from a local radio station to send Easter cards to soldiers stationed overseas. Sara includes a long, rambling letter, talking about her latest embarrassment when a family member called her a spinster in front of everyone. At 35, Sara is definitely single but her life doesn’t leave her a whole lot of time for dating. Her brother and his wife take terrible advantage of her. Her mother, a recent widow, refuses to do anything for herself and relies on Sarah for way too much. Sara just adores her niece, but she is in kindergarten now, and Sara realizes she won’t be needed much longer.

Much to her surprise, she gets an email from Gabe, the soldier who received her card. That starts a correspondence that eventually moves to texting, then video chats. Sara realizes she is developing strong feelings for Gabe, and he feels the same way. Seven months in, he is getting to go home to Alaska for 6 weeks. He sends Sara a plane ticket so she can come meet him.

Sara panics, not sure how she will explain this to her family and she is really torn. Gabe realizes her family may be worried about her just up and going to Alaska to meet someone they don’t know, so on impulse, he stops in North Carolina to surprise her. Let’s just say it does not go well. Gabe gives Sara an ultimatum to come to Alaska or that will be the end but he is not really sure she will show up. Sara is quite the doormat, and her family just loves walking all over her.

I really liked these characters and wanted them to find their happily ever after. Meeting online is not new anymore, but I liked the soldier angle here. We all have some idea about the difficulties soldiers face when they are stationed in a war zone, but this brings a bit of what happens back at home, and how that affects soldiers as well. It was interesting and I always like learning something new. What I didn’t like was the beginning of the book – the letters they wrote to each other were repeated. So you read the letter as Sara wrote it, then a few pages later you read the same letter as Gabe read it. It didn’t make sense to repeat it like that, I found it annoying, and I have no idea what the editor was thinking. But once I got past that, I loved the rest of the book.

Sadly, there wasn’t a whole lot about Alaska as they don’t even get there until almost the end of the book, but I was so caught up with these characters and their story that it didn’t even matter. There was a little sex, but this read was much more about the sweet than the heat, and I highly recommend it.

3/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FROM ALASKA WITH LOVE by Ally James. Berkley (March 3, 2020). ISBN 978-1984806956. 304p.

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2020 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners!

March 13, 2020

The awards ceremony may have been canceled, (thanks, Coronavirus!) but the awards must go on…

From the Washington Post:

The National Book Critics Circle was forced to cancel last night’s awards ceremony. But the winners were announced — along with plans to celebrate them sometime this fall:

  • Autobiography “Know My Name,” by Chanel Miller (review).
  • Biography “The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth,” by Josh Levin (review).
  • Criticism “Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval,” by Saidiya Hartman.
  • Fiction “Everything Inside: Stories,” by Edwidge Danticat.
  • Nonfiction “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland,” by Patrick Radden Keefe (review).
  • Poetry “Magical Negro,” by Morgan Parker (review).

 

Note: I am a member of the NBCC.

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THE LAND BEYOND THE SEA by Sharon Kay Penman

March 13, 2020

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From the publisher:

From the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Sharon Kay Penman comes the story of the reign of King Baldwin IV and the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s defense against Saladin’s famous army.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as Outremer, is the land far beyond the sea. Baptized in blood when the men of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem from the Saracens in the early twelfth century, the kingdom defined an utterly new world, a land of blazing heat and a medley of cultures, a place where enemies were neighbors and neighbors became enemies.

At the helm of this growing kingdom sits young Baldwin IV, an intelligent and courageous boy committed to the welfare and protection of his people. But despite Baldwin’s dedication to his land, he is afflicted with leprosy at an early age and the threats against his power and his health nearly outweigh the risk of battle. As political deception scours the halls of the royal court, the Muslim army–led by the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, Saladin–is never far from the kingdom’s doorstep, and there are only a handful Baldwin can trust, including the archbishop William of Tyre and Lord Balian d’Ibelin, a charismatic leader who has been one of the few able to maintain the peace.

Filled with drama and battle, tragedy and romance, Sharon Kay Penman’s latest novel brings a definitive period of history vividly alive with a tale of power and glory that will resonate with readers today.

Penman presents a truly monumental portrait of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during a period beginning about the time the first crusade succeeded in opening up the land to Christianity until the city was retaken by the Saracens under the sultan Saladin. The research done by the author is briefly outlined by her in an afterward of the book. And, while it was written as a novel, Penman makes the case for it’s being based on the facts as researched by her and various historians writing about the period.

In order to tell the story as a novel, the author has put words, conversations, and personal feelings into the actions of the novel’s persona and first and foremost that action allows them to become real for the reader. During the period dealt with a young man named Baldwin became king of the area and is depicted as wise beyond his years. He developed leprosy early in his life with the disease affecting him until his untimely death in his 20’s. He is credited with consolidating the territories involved in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and at the same time militarily holding off the constant attacks by the Saracens attempting to recover the lands held by them prior to the first crusade.

There are only a few people that Baldwin can trust, and two of these play leading roles in the book. The first is the archbishop; William of Tyre and the other​ Lord Balian d’Ibelin. Balian rides in support of Baldwin during the battles staged against the invading Saracens and has his personal life including marriage to a member of the royal family become a centerpiece in the novel.
The sultan Saladin plays an important part in the story, as he did during real life as he leads his people into war against those that usurped the lands belonging to them. He was a military genius and while shown as handling the people his armies conquered; killing or selling many into slavery his wisdom at many instances is noteworthy and described by the author.

The novel culminates at the time that Jerusalem is recaptured by Saladin and describes briefly what happens to many people affected by the conquest and who must leave their homes for other places. A brief summary of the presence of King Richard of England, including his capture by Saladin and later ransom by his brother John, ties this book into the legend of Robin Hood which involves the efforts of this picaresque outlaw to free King Richard.

The study of history is subject to interpretation and is really never the result of hard facts. It is, therefore, to Penman’s credit that she has written a history of the period in the packaging of a completely engrossing novel. In either case, it is beyond doubt a five-star work.

3/2020 Paul Lane

THE LAND BEYOND THE SEA by Sharon Kay Penman. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (March 3, 2020). ISBN: 978-0399165283. 688p.

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STOP AT NOTHING by Michael Ledwidge

March 12, 2020

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From the publisher:

The explosive new thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of James Patterson’s Michael Bennett series

When a Gulfstream jet goes down in the Bahamas carrying a fortune in cash and ill-gotten diamonds, expat diving instructor Michael Gannon is the only person on the scene. Assuming himself the beneficiary of a drug deal gone bad, Gannon thinks he’s home free with the sudden windfall until he realizes he forgot to ask one simple question.

Who were the six dead men on the plane?

Gannon soon learns the answer to that fateful question as he is thrust into an increasingly complex and deadly game of cat and mouse with a group of the world’s most powerful and dangerous men who will stop at nothing to catch him.

But as the walls close in, Gannon reveals a few secrets of his own. Before he retired to the islands, Gannon had another life, one with a lethal set of skills that he must now call back to the surface if he wants to make it out alive.

As a decade-long James Patterson writing partner, Michael Ledwidge is a pro at writing fast-paced, in-the-moment prose, tightly choreographed action set pieces and plot twists that drop at exactly the right moment. With this novel, he kicks off an unstoppable, gripping new thriller series.

Michael Gannon is an American ex-pat living in the Bahamas where he is a part-time diving instructor, sport fisherman and has his own boat. He is enjoying a relaxed life in the sun with no cares to weigh him down. The novel opens when Michael spots a corporate jet flying low over the ocean near where he is fishing. The plane splashes down and he heads over to see if he can render any assistance to passengers on board. Getting there he finds six dead men on the plane. Diving down to see if any passengers are still alive Michael finds a fortune in both cash and diamonds and thinking that he has come upon a drug deal gone bad takes the fortune and heads home.

A combined U.S. Navy and FBI investigation of the crash brings out what is a plot by certain leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to squelch damning evidence on themselves which is scheduled to be broadcast by a man hiding in an embassy in London. These people find that Michael Gannon has taken the cash and diamonds and a search and kill hunt for him begins. But we quickly find that Gannon has a past which is very helpful in fending off his would-be killers.

Ledwidge is an experienced author with a background that includes collaboration with James Patterson and appears to be launching a series of his own featuring Michael Gannon. These future books may include action in the Caribbean working out of the Bahamas and should prove well worth the read.

3/2020 Paul Lane

STOP AT NOTHING by Michael Ledwidge. Hanover Square Press; Original edition (March 3, 2020). ISBN: 978-1335044952. 416p.

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2020 London Book Fair Award Winners!

March 11, 2020

The fair may have been canceled, (thanks, Coronavirus!) but the awards must go on…

THE LONDON BOOK FAIR AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

 LBF International Excellence Awards: Asia and Europe lead the way

  • CAMEOs: Little Women, Life of Pi, Elizabeth is Missing and Norse Mythology triumph
  • UK Book Blog Awards: Sentimental Garbage, Julia’s Bookcase, WhatSallyReadNext and Leena Norms crowned winners

 LBF 2021, the 50th Fair, will take place from 9-11 March 2021

LONDON 11 March 2020: The winners of The London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards 2020, CAMEO Awards, and UK Book Blog Awards, have been announced today.

N.B. Following the cancellation of The London Book Fair 2020, the LBF International Excellence Awards, CAMEO Awards, and UK Book Blog Awards ceremonies did not take place. Instead winners were announced online and prizes posted to winners around the world.

INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The winners of The London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards, in association with the Publishers Association, have been announced, with Europe and Asia leading the way with five and four winners respectively.

The LBF International Excellence Awards winners include:

  • Shortlisted in three categories, Karadi Tales (India) took home The Audiobook Publisher of the Year. The judges congratulated them on their “firm commercial focus on their future web-based strategy, and continued dedication to both educating and entertaining young people in India.” A special mention was bestowed on a Mozambique start-up, Editora Trinta Zero Nove, for their “innovative focus on under-served groups, particularly women from rural areas, and their ambitious plans for the future.”
  • Maadi Public Library in Egypt was crowned Library of the Year, with judges praising the library’s “sheer energy, diversity and vibrancy” and their “holistic programme, including management and leadership activities and entrepreneurial skills for women and girls, a focus on global issues such as water scarcity and new ideas around digital skills.”
  • The Bookstore of the Year Award, sponsored by Gardners, went to Unity Books Auckland (New Zealand) for “their wonderful and ‘dangerously tempting’ store, and for developing career booksellers, growing their business substantially, and their commitment and actions to become carbon zero by 2025.”
  • Indonesia’s Macassar International Writers’ Festival was awarded The Literary Festival Award, after Indonesia was the Market Focus country of 2019. The judges said that the Festival “has developed a radically inclusive operation transparent in its working methods and fearless in its programming.” A special mention also went to Ireland’s newly created The Dingle Literary Festival.
  • Praised for their Solar Homework Clubs initiative, Book Aid International won The Educational Initiatives Award. Assisting the education of all student refugees, especially vulnerable girls, Solar Homework Clubs are solar libraries with provisions of solar lamps and books – “a solution that is cost effective, replicable and scalable in a world with an increasing refugee population – and it changes lives” said the judges.
  • Winner of the Literary Translation Initiative Award was Yiddish Book Center (USA), which the judges called a “unique organisation that involves the public, publishers, libraries, and upcoming generations of translators in a broad and imaginative programme to preserve the past and safeguard the future of this language and its culture.”
  • Meanwhile, European winners included The Literary Agent Award, which went to María Lynch from Casanovas & Lynch Literary Agency (Spain), The Rights Professional Award, sponsored by Sharjah Book Authority, awarded to Tuomas Sorjamaa from Ferly (Finland) and Apicula Verlag, GMbH, who took home The Educational Learning Resources Award, with an additional special mention bestowed on the Arab Federation for Libraries & Information (Egypt).
  • This year’s Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association, was conferred to Bonnier. The judges were especially impressed with “their efforts to provide accessible books for children from all socio-economic backgrounds is noteworthy, as is their efforts to diversify future talent pipelines. Bonnier has implemented admirable measures to improve equality in the workplace, and this is being reflected in the content of the books they publish.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing, for his outstanding contribution to the book industry, publishing international best-selling works by Khaled Hosseini, Margaret Atwood, JK Rowling, William Dalrymple, and many more.

Commenting on Nigel’s award Paul Boateng, Former MP and Chair of Book Aid International, said: “Nigel Newton’s leadership in the publishing industry and his championing of the role of Books and Publishing not least in the field of International Development over many years has been of huge significance. He has made an outstanding contribution both professionally and personally. Book Aid International continue to value him as our Honorary President and join with many others in wishing him well going forward.”

Mark Bide was awarded The London Book Fair’s Simon Master Chairman’s Award. In his career spanning four decades, Mark has been committed to the creation of a modern, efficient supply chain for the global publishing industry. His ground-breaking work includes the introduction of standardised product metadata, identifiers, subject categories, and communication protocols – all of which the publishing industry relies heavily on.

Mark has also been an energetic advocate for copyright, doing pioneering work on behalf of thousands of journalists and publishers. He designed and built the Automated Content Access Protocol (ACAP), allowing content owners to communicate their copyright terms and conditions online in a language that can be read by Google and Facebook. In addition, he has consistently championed the needs of those with reading disabilities, by working to ensure that accessibility metadata be included within the ONIX standard, thereby improving access to books worldwide for the reading disabled community.

Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “The International Excellence Awards always remind us of the innovative, important and inspiring work being done by all those in the global publishing and book community. From translators in India and librarians in Finland to literary festivals in Ukraine and literary agents in France, these awards show the breadth of talent working in the industry around the world today. The London Book Fair, is delighted to celebrate this global industry at this difficult juncture, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to London for the 50th LBF in 2021.”

Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive, The UK Publishers Association, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s International Excellence Awards. It’s inspiring to see the work and innovation in publishing around the globe. Although it is disappointing not be able to meet and congratulate everyone in person it’s fantastic to see the awards will be sent across the world – from Italy to India, Indonesia to New Zealand – a true reflection of the international nature of publishing.”

The full list of this year’s International Excellence winners is below:

  • The Academic and Professional Publisher Award: Princeton University Press (USA)
  • The Audiobook Publisher of the Year: Karadi Tales (India)
  • The Bookstore of the Year Award, sponsored by Gardners: Unity Books Auckland (New Zealand)
  • The Educational Initiatives Award: Book Aid International (UK / Kenya)
  • The Educational Learning Resources Award, supported by The China Publishing & Media Journal: Apicula Verlag, GMbH (Germany)
  • The Library of the Year Award: Maadi Public Library (Egypt)
  • The Literary Translation Initiative Award: Yiddish Book Center (USA)
  • The Literary Agent Award: Maria Lynch – Casanovas & Lynch Literary Agency (Spain)
  • The Literary Festival Award: Macassar International Writers’ Festival (Indonesia)
  • The Rights Professional Award, sponsored by Sharjah Book Authority: Tuomas Sorjamaa, Ferly (Finland)

Eligible for entries from all countries, including the UK:

  • Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Publisher: Macmillan Learning (USA)
  • Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Initiative: Fondazione LIA (Italy)

 Eligible for entries from the UK only:

  • Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association: Bonnier

Winners around the world will be sent their International Excellence Awards by The London Book Fair.

 

CAMEO AWARDS

Four exceptional winners have been announced for the fourth annual Creativity Across Media: Entertainment and Originality Awards (CAMEOs). The awards recognise the best book adaptations across film, TV, audio and stage, celebrating books at the heart of the creative industries. The 2020 winners are:

BOOK TO FILM AWARD

 

Little Women

Book original by Louisa May Alcott

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Screenplay: Greta Gerwig

 

 

 BOOK TO STAGE AWARD

 

Life of Pi

Book original by Yann Martel (Canongate)

Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti for Sheffield Crucible

 

 
BOOK TO TV AWARD

 

Elizabeth is Missing

Book original by Emma Healey (Penguin)

Adapted by Andrea Gibb

 

 

 BOOK TO AUDIO AWARD

 

Norse Mythology

Book original by Neil Gaiman

(Bloomsbury)

Adapted by Penguin Random House

Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair and London Book & Screen Week, said: “From classic stories to modern novels, the past year has seen a wealth of fantastic adaptations across stage, audio and screen, that speak to the valuable role books play within the creative industries. We know that adapted works tend to attract more revenue and critical acclaim than their counterparts and this year’s wonderful winners also show how adaptations allow great books to be enjoyed again and again in new forms and by new generations.”

Expert judges from all sectors of the entertainment industry deliberated across each of the categories. This year’s judges, chaired by Helen Macaleer, are: Philippa Donovan (Smart Quill), Philippa Milnes Smith (Soho Agency), Katrien Roos (Harbottle and Lewis), John Lomas (Bullivant/Kickback Media), Hayley Steed (Madeleine Milburn Agency), Colin Williams (Sixteen South), Videl Bar Kar (Bookwire), Jessica Maslen (Blair Partnership), Tamsin Collison, Julia Posen, Charlotte Longstaff (LW Theatres), Rina Gill (RGM Productions).

  • Little Women was adapted from the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott, widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential books in the canon of 19th century American literature, and which has seen several prior adaptations to stage and film since the novel’s original publication. Among a star-studded cast it featured Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen and Laura Dern as the sisters of the March family, and was directed by acclaimed director Greta Gerwig. The judges were impressed with this “clever and stunning adaptation of a classic book, retold through the eyes of an adult woman making the story completely relevant to a modern audience.”
  • Life of Pi was adapted for stage by screenwriter and RADA graduate Lolita Chakrabarti for Sheffield Crucible from Yann Martel’s award-winning 2001 novel. With the show having received rave reviews in The Observer, The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday, the judges felt that “this impressive and immersive adaptation was a huge accomplishment. To present the dramatisation of a beloved and metaphorical book with such innovation, skill and phenomenal storytelling is a true credit to the team involved.”
  • Elizabeth is Missing was adapted from Emma Healey’s 2014 novel, which that year won the Costa Book Award for Best First Novel. Starring Glenda Jackson, Liv Hill and Sophie Rundle among others, it was adapted by novel it was adapted by Scottish screenwriter Andrea Gibb and was directed by BAFTA award-winning director Aisling Walsh. Broadcast on BBC One at the end of 2019, the judges were “very moved by the incredibly strong adapted script and the compelling performances from all the actors, with special mention for Glenda Jackson’s virtuoso performance in this powerful family story.”
  • Norse Mythology was adapted from Neil Gaiman’s 2017 retelling of stories from Norse Mythology. It was adapted by Penguin Random House for its BBC Digital Audio imprint, and Diana Rigg, Derek Jacobi, Colin Morgan, Natalie Dormer and Neil Gaiman himself among its stellar cast. The judges commented that the adaptation “was an excellent production bringing a key pantheon of half-forgotten gods to a modern audience in both an entertaining and educational way. The judges loved the ambition of this audio book.”

UK BOOK BLOG AWARDS

The winners of The London Book Fair’s UK Book Blog Awards 2020 winners are:

  • Book Podcaster of the Year: Caroline O’Donoghue’s Sentimental Garbage

The judges said ‘Sentimental Garbage is slick, brilliantly edited and a lot of fun to listen to. Caroline created the podcast to question why chick-lit tends to be overlooked as ‘literature’… with great guests and a fantastic selection of books, it starts important conversations!’

The Comma Press Podcast was also highly commended by the judges, who added ‘This indie, literary podcast produces above its cloud. It’s only the beginning, and we are excited to hear more.’

  • Book Vlogger of the Year Award: Leena Norms

Judges said of Leena Norms, created by 2019 Trailblazer, Leena Normington: ‘Leena is warm, personable and engaging – a natural. Her content is refreshing and fun, and we love her authentic voice!’

  • Book Blogger of the Year: Julia’s Bookcase

Judges commented: ‘Julia’s Bookcase is varied, readable and thorough – centering on the reading experience. There is a fantastic range of content, including the ‘Bookshop Guides’ to different towns across the UK and tips on how to use Instagram.’

  • Bookstagrammer of the Year: What Sally Read Next

Judges said: ‘‘What Sally Read Next has as much style as substance. With a fantastic following and great engagement, Sally is committed to posting various types of content. Her flat lay is beautiful, with a good mix of new and old book titles, bookshops and personal pictures.’

Helen Clifford, Marketing Manager of The London Book Fair, said “We are so pleased to recognise the brilliant work being done by our winners to engage with fellow readers, promote new and forgotten books, and champion all kinds of authors. The incredible quality of the longlists really showcases the impressive range of talent and creativity to be found in the more bookish corners of social media and underlines why influencers are so key for the publishing industry.”

The judging panel, comprised of experts from across the book industry: Paul Black (Publicity Director at Andersen Press), Rosie Beaumont-Thomas (Events & Outreach Manager at Royal Society of Literature) and Shahroo Izadi (author of The Last Diet and The Kindness Method), all of whom returned to judge the Awards for a second year.

The UK Book Blog Awards 2020 shortlist is announced as below:

Book Blogger:

  • Bluebird Reviews
  • By CK Robertson
  • Julia’s Bookcase

Bookstagrammer:

  • The Halcyon Days of Summer
  • What Sally Read Next
  • Zubs Covered

Book Vlogger:

  • Leena Norms
  • Lonesome Reader
  • The Book Belle

 Book Podcaster:

  • Down the Rabbit Hole
  • Sentimental Garbage
  • The Comma Press Podcast

The London Book Fair will return from 9 to 11 March 2021.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

WE FED AN ISLAND by Jose Andres

March 11, 2020

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The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time

Also written by Richard Wolffe (co-author)

From the publisher:

The true story of how a group of chefs fed hundreds of thousands of hungry Americans after Hurricane Maria and touched the hearts of many more

Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The economy was destroyed and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world.

Andrés addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time. From serving sancocho with his friend José Enrique at Enrique’s ravaged restaurant in San Juan to eventually cooking 100,000 meals a day at more than a dozen kitchens across the island, Andrés and his team fed hundreds of thousands of people, including with massive paellas made to serve thousands of people alone. At the same time, they also confronted a crisis with deep roots, as well as the broken and wasteful system that helps keep some of the biggest charities and NGOs in business.

Based on Andrés’s insider’s take as well as on meetings, messages, and conversations he had while in Puerto Rico, We Fed an Island movingly describes how a network of community kitchens activated real change and tells an extraordinary story of hope in the face of disasters both natural and man-made, offering suggestions for how to address a crisis like this in the future.

Beyond that, a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen for efforts in Puerto Rico and beyond.

This was an upsetting and eye-opening read. It is also an important one; we need to learn from our mistakes. Not that the current president would ever admit to making one. I’m not going to get too political here, but only because Chef Andres does it way better than I possibly could. In case you’ve forgotten, this book is about the rescue efforts after the devastating hurricane nearly destroyed the island of Puerto Rico.

Chef Andres pulls no punches and he names names. In fact, there is an entire chapter about the incompetence of the Red Cross alone. But they are not the only ones to blame. It all starts, and ends, with FEMA and the current administration.

“We knew that downed communications and electricity would make life difficult, but Puerto Rico was still the United States,” Andrés writes in his introduction. “It couldn’t be as bad as Haiti. We thought we’d be back by the end of the week. We were wrong.”

This book is not an easy read. A lot of it is upsetting. There are bright spots, of course, and Chef Andres’s big, sunny personality shines light on every page, even when he’s crying. And he cries a lot, with good reason. It is also not an easy read because it is chock full of statistics and numbers, which are not my forte. But even I was able to understand this nightmare and why the numbers were so important.

“Even the measures of food were confusing and FEMA had no way of understanding what was going on. The Red Cross talked about pounds of food, while others were talking about pallets. We preferred to talk about meals, which was actually what FEMA’s contracts specified. All these counts went into a big Excel spreadsheet that FEMA maintained and emailed every day. At the bottom of the spreadsheet, the total count of food was supposed to be there for everyone to see. Instead, the count was a calculating error because there was no standard unit of food that everyone used. If FEMA couldn’t manage a spreadsheet, how could it manage an emergency?”

I chose this book to read with my Foodie Book Club at Lynn University. I selected it for a few reasons, one being that the university takes seriously its role in educating students on the importance of civility and giving back. In a really big way. The other is a more personal tie. Chef Andres started his World Central Kitchen foundation after the earthquake in Haiti. Lynn University also suffered a devastating loss to that earthquake.

Honoring their legacy: 10 years since the Haiti earthquake

Ten years ago, 12 Lynn University students and two faculty members visited Haiti as part of a humanitarian course called Journey of Hope. They served the poor and brought hope to countless people with visits to a children’s handicapped home and an all-girls orphanage.

Following their service on Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Port-au-Prince. It devastated the island and took the lives of four of the 12 Lynn students and both faculty members. The university remembers Stephanie Crispinelli, Britney Gengel, Christine Gianacaci, Courtney Hayes, Dr. Patrick Hartwick and Dr. Richard Bruno every year, at the moment the earthquake struck.

There is a beautiful memorial on campus, and the university remembers everyone they lost each year.

Since the World Central Kitchen finished their work in Puerto Rico, they have been very busy. Most recently they sent meals to the people on board the Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan. It is easy to understand why Chef Andres gets the accolades he does; he is an extraordinary man, and this book is just a small part of his legacy. Don’t miss it.

3/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WE FED AN ISLAND by Jose Andres.  Anthony Bourdain/Ecco; Reprint edition (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-0062864499. 288.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE DEEP by Alma Katsu

March 10, 2020

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From the publisher:

From the acclaimed and award-winning author of The Hunger comes an eerie, psychological twist on one of the world’s most renowned tragedies, the sinking of the Titanic and the ill-fated sail of its sister ship, the Britannic.

Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, the guests of the Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone from the moment they set sail. Several of them, including maid Annie Hebley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, are convinced there’s something sinister–almost otherwordly–afoot. But before they can locate the source of the danger, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together. Working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic‘s sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship, she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I. At first, Annie is thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the sinking, but soon, Mark’s presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets, forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past–as they both discover that the terror may not yet be over.

Brilliantly combining the supernatural with the height of historical disaster, The Deep is an exploration of love and destiny, desire and innocence, and, above all, a quest to understand how our choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom.

Alma Katsu has written a truly unique novel incorporating an eerie twist to the very well known story of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. In 1916 at the height of World War one the ocean liner Britannic was sunk according to accounts by two German submarines. The Britannic coincidentally was a sister ship to the Titanic and had been turned into a hospital ship for the duration of the war. The novel moves from one point to the other effortlessly as the story unfolds.

The action swings back and forth between 1912 and 1916 and uses two protagonists to tell the story. Annie Hebbley is a young girl that has left her home in Ireland due to the horrific conditions she was suffering there. She manages to luckily get a job on the Titanic as a room steward serving twelve of the first-class cabins on the ship. Among the passengers she serves are John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, well known multimillionaires of the day.

The second individual playing an important role in the book is Mark Fletcher, an American returning home with his new British wife and their baby. From the sailing date, both passengers and crew shrug off odd happenings including the sudden death of a young boy sailing as caretaker to one of the millionaire’s dogs. The chairman of the White Star Line owners of the Titanic is aboard and hastens to assure everyone that the ship is unsinkable. People should not worry and just enjoy the luxury of the cruise bound for New York.

The story finds Annie in a mental institution four years after the Titanic tragedy unable to cope with the horror she has undergone. She is released by her doctor and reluctantly manages to obtain a job as a nurse on the Britannic finding an aptitude she doesn’t know she has to do the work. In inspecting the wounded men under her care, she comes upon Mark Fletcher. While on the Titanic she had met Mark, who was a passenger in one of the cabins she attended. She had developed a crush on him and in a wild moment has a one night stand. Her feelings come out and her imaginings lead her into thinking that Mark was in love with her and this feeling just has to be rekindled.

Katsu changes the actual destruction of the Britannic from sinking by submarines to something else based on the love Annie thinks she can rekindle with Mark. The novel is absolutely compelling, grabbing the reader and bringing him or her into another era and a possible link into the macabre. I certainly hope that Alma Katsu comes out with her next book soon and indicate my recommendation to pick it up as soon as published to enjoy.

3/2020 Paul Lane

THE DEEP by Alma Katsu. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (March 10, 2020). ISBN: 978-0525537908. 432p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

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