Are you just now making your list? If you are, you are definitely from the Earl Carstens School of Holiday Shopping. By my way of thinking, you are way behind! If you need some last minute gift ideas, books are always the perfect gift - Christmas or otherwise.

For the Non-fiction Reader: “The Art Thief” by Michael Finkel
You have probably never heard of Stephane Beitwieser, but he is the most prolific art thief of all time. He did not sell the art he stole. He kept a collection estimated to be worth $2 billion in his attic bedroom and sitting room in his mother’s house. Beitwieser’s more than 200 robberies weren’t Hollywood-style capers involving Ninja-like moves through fields of laser beams, and they certainly weren’t the gratuitous savagery of the Gardner Museum thefts in 1990. His heists were more nuanced: the removal of a few screws from a display case between security checks; the pocketing of a priceless object; maybe a few words exchanged with museum staff on the way out; and a leisurely stroll from the premises. But no one is perfect, and even “geniuses” get caught.

“The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War” by Erik Larson
​Erik Larson writes history, not historical fiction, but his writing style is just as enthralling as any novel out there. In his newest offering, Larson writes of the five months leading up to the firing upon Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. It could almost be called a comedy of errors, but obviously, it was in no way comedic. If the fort hadn’t been fired upon, there would have been another catalyst for the war, surely, but this particular act seems to have been brought about by a frustrating combination of ambivalence, ego, misinformation, disinformation, and lack of communication.

For the Movie and TV Buff “Cue the Sun” by Emily Nussbaum
Love it or hate, Reality TV seems to be here to stay. Nussbaum would argue that it has actually been here longer than we realize. Remember “Candid Camera?” What about “The Gong Show?” In this book though, she concentrates on this newer crop of “unscripted programming,” starting with what has now become the granddaddy of them all: “Survivor: Borneo.” Apparently the producers were so hyped up for this new venture and so unprepared that they dropped off contestants and crew with no shelter for either. This included all of the crew’s expensive equipment and involved spending the night on the beach.

​“Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of ‘Airplane!'’ by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. I was never a fan of “Airplane!” or really any sort of spoof movie. But I have to say that the story of the making of the movie is almost enough to make me go back and watch it. It is considered the funniest movie ever made. FORBES conducted a study and supposedly “Airplane!” has the most laughs per minute. That’s not what I find interesting, though. What I find interesting is that it was created by three 20-somethings from Wisconsin who believed they could go to Hollywood and make this very specific movie. And they did!

For the Mystery/Thriller Fan “We Solve Murders” by Richard Osman
I was completely prepared not to like Osman’s new quirky mystery series as much as “The Thursday Murder Club” series, but I do! It is just as much fun and every bit as entertaining with a cadre of endearing characters and plenty of mystery.

“End of Story” by A.J. Finn
The story seems straightforward. At first. However, I read Finn’s super-popular 2018 novel, “The Woman in the Window,” so I knew that there would be twists. I tried to get out ahead of them, I really did, but Finn’s storytelling is just too good for that. This is that book that you get for Christmas and then you knock the wrapping paper off the sofa, wrap up in a blanket and proceed to read the rest of the day - still in your pj’s - until you finish it. Or is that just me?

​Whether you are giving or getting (don’t forget to put books for yourself on the list), Happy Christmas Reading to you and yours. 

I consider a lot of factors when deciding what to read next. I’m in two book clubs, so those books receive priority. Sometimes, I have specific books that I want to read for this column, so they are often near the top of the list. Then there’s the ever-present, ever-growing stack of physical books. There’s the ever-present, ever-growing list of books that feeds the aforementioned stack. Plus, if we’re traveling,  audiobooks that my husband will also enjoy get thrown into the mix. BUT … all of that takes a backseat when Harlan Coben releases a new book.
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I’m a huge Harlan Coben fan. Moreover, I’m a Myron Bolitar fan. Myron Bolitar is the main character of 12 of Coben’s 36 novels. The 12th, “Think Twice,” came out in May. It’s an apt title because it seems that Myron has to think twice about just about everything he knows - starting with the fact that a former client of his sports agent/representation firm is a suspect in a murder investigation. This is a former client who just happens to be dead, and who had a long and extremely complicated history with Myron. I’ll just say that the complications continue.

If you are new to the Myron Bolitar series, I recommend that you not pick up here. Fellow fans, if you need to talk, reach out to me. Or maybe I should say, I’m a mess. I need someone to please reach out to me, because I really need to talk this out.   

One of my book clubs read Ruta Sepetys’ “Salt to the Sea.” I have written about all of Ruta Sepetys’ books before. I won’t re-review now. For historical fiction fans, I highly recommend them. I’ve said it before, look for this and all of Sepetys’ books.

Speaking of historical fiction, what about Kristin Hannah? I tend to enjoy her historical fiction more than her contemporary fiction, and that’s certainly true for her newest historical fiction novel, “The Women.” It is an emotional story of the service of an Army nurse in Vietnam, and the life and times to which she returned after completing two tours. I lost a brother in Vietnam when I was just a baby. My husband’s father was one of the earliest military advisors to go into South Vietnam. Once, when traveling through South Georgia, we stopped at the Museum of the U.S. Infantry at Fort Benning, Ga. I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful facility that we just happened upon. It’s organized by U.S. military era, and you can easily spend an entire day there. We only had a short time to spend, so we concentrated primarily on the exhibits that related to my father-in-law’s military service. In the Vietnam Era exhibit, you can go through an area that replicates the war-time jungles of Vietnam. I won’t say it was terrifying, because obviously I knew that I was safe, but I don’t think I have ever wanted to get out of anywhere so badly in my life. I don’t know if it was all of these connections to the Vietnam War, or the fact that I just really liked and cared about Frankie McGrath, the main character, but this book really resonated with me.  For me, it’s that rare book you finish and by the next morning, you’re thinking you’ll just go ahead and read it again.

I also have to say that I haven’t read anything quite as endearing as “Remarkably Bright Creatures” in a while. Shelby Van Pelt’s use of an octopus as the catalyst for the story is ingenious. If you’re thinking that sounds fanciful, you’re right. Fanciful, but not farfetched. Watch the Netflix documentary, “My Octopus Teacher,” or National Geographic’s “The Secrets of the Octopus” on NatGeo, Hulu, or Disney to learn more about the intelligence of these animals. Give this imaginative novel a try. You’ll be glad you did! It’s so engrossing that at one point while I was reading, my watch told me to breathe.

Happy Reading!

My husband, Earl Carstens, and I spent most of  May in Italy. Congratulations to our daughter, Mimi Carstens, who graduated with her master’s degree from John Cabot University in Rome. As well as celebrating graduation, we traveled around Italy with her. I loaded up my Kindle in preparation for time on airplanes and trains, and I’ll share some of those titles in this column.

First, let me warn you - wherever you are - not to read the end of Jeneva Rose’s “You Shouldn’t Have Come Here” at bedtime. To be fair, the story had been plodding along. It seemed safe enough to finish up the book and start new in the morning. How was I supposed to know it was suddenly going to do a 180 and go tearing off in directions I could not have anticipated? If you like a surprise ending, this is the book for you! Just don’t read the ending at bedtime, especially if you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar place like an Airbnb.

I know I reviewed Tana French’s “The Searcher” in 2021, but I reread it because her follow-up novel, “The Hunter,” was published in March. As I said then, if you like a good police procedural, you need to read Tana French’s books. Her “Dublin Murder Squad” series is fabulous, as are her newer Cal Hooper books.  In “The Searcher,” Cal is a retired Chicago police officer who has moved to the Irish countryside for some rest and relaxation. However, once a cop, always a cop.  Before he knows it, he is searching for a young man who has gone missing. He quickly learns that his sleepy new home may not be as peaceful as he believed, and there are warnings under all that blarney. Over the next two years, Cal has settled in to his new home and understands it better when someone comes along to disrupt the equilibrium of the entire town. In “The Hunter,” police from Dublin come into the small town of Ardnakelty to solve a murder.  Will the town point them toward Cal as a suspect? Cal knows that it’s possible, but he also knows that is the least of what’s going on around him.

I almost stopped reading Jesmyn Ward’s “Salvage the Bones” several times. It’s the story of a poor Mississippi Gulf Coast family with few resources. Through bad luck or poor choices, the scant resources they do have are eroded, until Hurricane Katrina makes landfall and wipes everything away. (Just a quick reminder - Hurricane Katrina did not hit New Orleans; it hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The weather system that Katrina was part of lingered over the area, bringing torrential rain and devastating flooding to New Orleans. As bad as New Orleans was affected, people often forget that Mississippi actually received Hurricane Katrina’s full Category 5 force.) While I may not have agreed with every choice the Batiste family made, I do believe they were good people, and I would have welcomed them getting a “win,” even a small one. I realize that Ward’s version is nearer the truth of surviving in poverty in 2005, and even in 2024, where there are not always happy endings.

The ending of “First Lie Wins” by Ashley Elston was happy. I guess. None of the main characters were dead. As far as we know. And, none of them were in jail. It seems as though some may have been getting their love-lives on track.  It’s definitely a case of “no honor among thieves,”  and it will have you unwilling to trust anything any character says. This was a Reese’s (Witherspoon) Book Club title, so you know it was driven by a strong female character. I can 100 percent see this adapted for TV. As I was reading it, I decided I could never be a con-artist. There really is an art to it, and it takes a lot of work. In the end, my biggest question was, “Did the lawyer ever get paid?” Surely!
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Ciao!

Maybe half of you readers live in Fairyland. For those of you who do, I know you have probably had this experience - you’re speaking to someone on the phone and need to provide your address. When you say Peter Pan Road, for instance, they laugh, they say, “You must really like cartoons.”
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Anyway, back to my point ... fairytales. At least some of us are surrounded by them. But do you ever really think about them?  Probably not. Did you know there is an entire group of authors who do? The retelling of fairytales is an entire sub-genre of fictional writing - often referred to as fairytale fantasies. The retelling of classic stories that aren’t technically fairytales may also be considered a part of this genre. It can get confusing. Thanks to Disney movies, there is little distinction between the two in the minds of most people. In fact, a fairytale is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre, which typically features magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings and is part of the culture of preliterate societies.

However, stories of Peter Pan, for instance, first appeared in J.M. Barrie’s 1902 novel written for adults, “The Little White Bird.” Another example of classic literature that is often considered a fairytale or children’s story, but actually originated as a novel for adults, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” (originally, titled “Notre-Dame de Paris (1482)” was published by Victor Hugo in 1831. This novel is an example of French Romanticism and champions historical preservation - solidifying Notre-Dame cathedral as a national icon. 
 
I have always enjoyed a good fairytale retelling, and you can find them at any reading level. Sometimes, authors weave historical figures or social issues into their retellings. They often become the basis of their own stage and screen adaptations. You may have seen the film based on Gail Carson Levine’s 1997 “Ella Enchanted,” and everyone knows the award-winning Broadway musical, and soon to be two-part movie, “Wicked,” based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel by that name. While Carson Levine’s writing is considered young adult fiction, Maguire’s novels are for a more mature audience. But these are just two authors. When I googled fairytale fantasy, it resulted in a list of 75 titles ranging across all fairytales. That doesn’t include those examples of classic literature that are lumped in with fairytales and children’s literature.
If you’re interested in trying fairytale fantasies, Carson Levine’s books are a good choice. Alex Flynn is probably my favorite author for fairytale fantasies, with titles like “Beastly” and “A Kiss in Time.”  Meaghan Spooner also takes a fresh look at fairytales. Check out her novel “Hunted” for a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” I recently read Gregory Maguire’s “Mirror, Mirror.” The plot premise is ingenious!  Set in medieval Italy, Snow White’s evil stepmother character (the one with the poison apple) is Lucrezia Borgia. The story is highly sexualized, so this is not a book for all audiences, despite its fairytale roots. My daughter is a fan of Emily McIntire’s writing.  “Hooked” is one of her favorites. She mentioned that McIntire’s books have a “hot villain” theme. I’m going to say these also are not for all audiences, including this reader.    

There are plenty of retellings that aren’t based on fairytales. Under New Releases on the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Library’s website, I came across two that are new takes on classic literature. “Julia,” is Sandra Newman’s feminist retelling of George Orwell’s dystopian classic, “1984.” “The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch” by Melinda Taub shares the story of the youngest Bennett sister from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” You know, the one who ran off with Mr. Wickham. Did she bewitch him? I don’t know. We’ll have to read it.

Maybe you’ve seen the 2009 title “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” by Seth Grahame-Smith. My point is that there are a lot of retellings available for just about any reader. Right now I’m reading “March” by Geraldine Brooks, retelling Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” from the absent father’s point of view.  Look for more about that soon.

I hope you’ll give retellings, fairytale fantasies or classics, a try. Happy (ever after) reading.

After reading Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series for two months, I thought I needed to diversify my reading. So this column is kind of all over the place. Hopefully, there will be something for everyone.

Let’s start with “Lessons in Chemistry,” by Bonnie Garmus. This was one of the hottest books of the past year: a New York Times bestseller, a GMA book club pick and the basis for an Apple TV series this fall. I’ll be honest with you. I thought this was going to be a rom-com. There is some romance, and there is some comedy. However, I was pleased to find that it took a deeper look at the roles of women in the 1960s. A Washington Post review I read sugar-coated the plot when it described the main character’s career as a research chemist taking “a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show.”  Actually, her career took a detour when she was raped by a supervising professor in her PhD program.  Sorry! That was a spoiler.

While I enjoyed the book, the level of misogyny made me cringe. Sort of like “Mad Men,” a television series I just never enjoyed. The book also takes a look at how women in business either lift up other women, or tear them down - again, very “Mad Men”-esque. I was disappointed that in the end (sorry - another spoiler), Elizabeth’s career was saved - not by her own merit - but by a benefactor. Sorry. This sounds like a negative review. It’s not. The book is thought-provoking and definitely worth reading.

Next is “A Dirt Road Life” by Lila Phelps. This first book in the series is “Family.” It’s free on Kindle and has just become available in paperback at Amazon. So, what makes this book special? Well, let me tell you.  I had a best friend in high school. I really don’t have the words to convey in this format just what she and her family meant to me. If you and I could sit down together over a cup of coffee, I could share memories and tell stories, and you would begin to understand the special place they hold in my heart. In lieu of that, my friend’s middle sister, Lila, has written a memoir in a series of books that centers around the dirt road they lived on. This one will introduce you to the family that I hold so dear. This first book is a mere 64 pages, and believe me when I tell you that the love leaked out of my eyes on every page. Obviously, it will not affect you in the same way, but I hope you will read it. Get to know these people who mean so very much to me. Get to know that dirt road that, to me, feels like HOME.

“One of Us Is Dead,” by Jeneva Rose is free on Audible. It was okay. I don’t enjoy reading about toxic people. If you enjoyed “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarty, you will probably like this. One thing that stands out about “One of Us Is Dead,” is that the author seems to have a real beef with the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The area is almost its own character in the book, and is not presented in a favorable light.  Basically, if you follow the author’s logic, the characters are toxic because they live in Buckhead.

“The Venice Sketchbook,” by Rhys Bowen, was exactly what you would expect. British girl meets Venetian boy, falls in love, and loses boy. Not once, but four times across the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s - when Venice believed that as a city of art and culture, it would be immune to the war in Europe. Told in a dual narrative, Juliette has kept the details of her life in Venice a secret for 60 years - until with her dying breath she sends her great-niece back to the city she loved with her sketchbooks and a set of keys. But why?
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Until next month - Happy Reading!   ​

“Most schoolboys dream of being a spy. With Alex, we have a spy who dreams of being a schoolboy.” (Alan Blunt, Head of MI6 - Point Blank.)

Last month, I told you that I planned to read the entire Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, after rereading the first book, “Stormbreaker.” “Point Blank” did not disappoint, with a lot of action and daring by the reluctant 14-year-old MI6 operative. Alex is sent into the prestigious Point Blanc boarding school near Grenoble, France, in search of a possible connection between the school and the mysterious deaths of some of the students’ billionaire fathers. He learns of a plan to take over the world, and thwarts it. Or does he?

Anthony Horowitz is a master of the cliffhanger. In my opinion, he is also a master of a narrative principle known as Chekhov’s gun. Put simply, this principle states that every element in a story should be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. An example would be that if there is a gun in a scene, there must be a reason for it. Someone should use the gun at some point in the story. This is why I get annoyed with writers who describe the excruciating minutiae of every scene with absolutely no relevance to the plot.  It tells me that they are probably trying to make their word count. Unless the character has some sort of relationship with Audi, the word car is sufficient. Endless references to makes, models, exterior and interior color, just to take up space on the page, make me cringe. I know that if Horowitz describes something like Alex Rider’s clothing in detail, later in the story I will need to know what he was wearing. I like a book that keeps me thinking.

I didn’t stop there. I moved right on to “Skeleton Key.” In this book, Alex Rider starts as a ball boy at Wimbledon, where he thwarts an attempt by a Chinese triad to throw the tournament. From there, he is loaned-out to the CIA for an undercover operation in Cuba, which eventually takes him to Russia, where he saves the world from a madman with a nuclear bomb. Piece of cake! Understanding that these are stories of espionage, I still feel that this book was just a little darker overall than the first two. This mission seemed to take a greater emotional toll on Alex. So, it’s no surprise that in the end we see him heading off for a vacation in the south of France. If anyone deserves it, he does!

So much for Alex’s Mediterranean vacation! His idyllic time in the sun ends suddenly in “Eagle Strike,” when he sees Yassen Gregorovich, the man who killed MI6 agent Ian Rider, Alex’s uncle. When the villa in which he is staying is destroyed, it’s obvious to Alex that this is no coincidence. He must have been Gregorovich’s target. Or was he?

As Alex’s host, British journalist Edward Pleasure, is raced to the hospital, Alex discovers the charred remains of the article on which he has been working. Then he uncovers a connection between the subject of the article and Gregorovich. Again, Alex does not believe in coincidence. However, when he takes his suspicions to MI6, he’s basically told to mind his own business - after all, he’s just a schoolboy. Feeling betrayed and used, Alex sets out on his own to prove that Gregorovich was hired to kill Edward Pleasure, and why. He’s well on his way to doing just that, but then Gregorovich finds Alex’s weakness.

I have to confess that I always expect the best - well, he is a hired killer, so maybe I expect better - from Yassen Gregorovich. Maybe it’s because despite killing Ian Rider, he did actually save Alex in “Stormbreaker.” Maybe it’s because the character was played by the incomparable Damian Lewis in that adaptation and that’s how I picture him. Either way, I’m always rooting for Yassen to do he right thing. The question is: Did Yassen do better in “Eagle Strike?” Or not? Maybe we, and Alex, will be able to answer that question in the next book, “Scorpia.”

Be sure to take Alex Rider along, whether you’re planning your own end-of-summer vacation or just doing your usual thing around town.
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Happy Reading! ​

July is always a busy month. Luckily, it’s often busy with the pool, the beach, and other fun things. I hope that’s true for you

Regardless of what you’re up to this month, you’ll need something to read. Here are some ideas:

Have you ever considered traveling to another place and time? If so, it probably wasn’t to a Maryland plantation in 1815. That would be especially true if you were a 26-year-old Black woman in 1976.  Somehow, that is exactly what happens to Dana in Octavia Butler’s “Kindred.” Inexplicably, she finds herself on the plantation where her great-grandmother was born. Which, I suppose, could be interesting as an observer. However, Dana doesn’t just observe. She becomes inextricably involved with the lives on the plantation and experiences the horrors of slavery first-hand. Written in 1979, this book does contain racial pejoratives that would be expected to be used in 1815 plantation life. Rape is also mentioned, but there are no graphic scenes.

I have been awaiting the release of Daniel Wallace’s first non-fiction book, “This Isn’t Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew.” Wallace is best known for his novel, “Big Fish.” Readers of that book will recognize Wallace’s inspiration for the character Edward Bloom, as he describes his father while recounting growing up in Birmingham, Ala. However, this book is not about his father.  “This Isn’t Going to End Well” is about Wallace’s brother-in-law, William Nealey. If that name rings a bell, it may be because he authored 10 books in which he used humorous, hand-drawn cartoons and river maps to share his “crash and learn” experiences in paddling, mountain biking, skiing, and inline skating. You may have seen his hand-drawn, poster size river maps of the Nantahala, Ocoee, Chattooga, Gawley, Youghiogheny,  Haw, and many more.  In a 2022 article in Indy Week, Nealy was described as an artist, a husband, a sportsman and an illustrator who expanded the way his fans thought about the outdoors.” He was a hippy kid at the forefront of “eco-tourism” before it was even a thing. A trail along the Haw River, several whitewater festivals, and the documentary “Riversense” are all dedicated to him. His longtime friend and publisher, Bob Sehlinger, described him as paddling’s poet laureate and “the best-known ambassador of whitewater sport.” Despite all of these accolades, to Daniel Wallace he was just William – his brother-in-law, his friend, and his idol. As so often happens though, Wallace was to learn that his idol had clay feet.  This book should appeal to an array of Mountain Mirror readers. Many will be familiar with the settings, from Birmingham to Chapel Hill. Outdoor enthusiasts may be familiar with Nealy’s work and will certainly recognize his rivers. Even readers interested in true-crime stories will find something of interest. Please note that this book includes drug use, mental health issues, suicide, and a loved one with secrets.

New books are always enjoyable, but summer is also a great time to re-read favorites. Some stories just never lose their popularity. Don’t take my word for it that “Stormbreaker,” the first book in Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series, is one of them. Published in 2000, this book introduces us to adolescent MI-6 agent, Alex Rider. After his uncle/guardian dies, Alex is surprised to learn that he was an agent. He is surprised even further when MI-6 comes to recruit him. As a teenager, he’s the perfect person to infiltrate the Stormbreaker Project, which is targeting students. Since then, 12 novels have been published, and another is being released this year. There are also six graphic novels, seven short stories, a supplementary book, a movie, and a two season TV series. I really like the 2006  “Stormbreaker” movie, but it didn’t receive very favorable reviews. I watched it recently, and decided it was time to reread the novel. Now, I’m going to read the rest of the series to get ready for the new novel. Be on the lookout for more about the Alex Rider series.
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Happy Reading!   ​

Summer is here, friends! I hope you have a stack of books ready for your summer reading.

Spring has been busy, but here are a couple of books that I found time to read:

The bestselling “Daisy Jones and the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid has been in my to-be-read stack for a while. With the premiere of Reece Witherspoon’s 10-episode adaptation on Prime Video, it had to move up to the top. The story is choppy – it’s written as an interview, with easily a dozen points-of-view. Until I got into it, I was repeatedly asking myself who this new voice was. “Oh, yes. Eddy’s the guitarist. Pete’s the drummer.” Some voices had complete chapters. Others had one sentence. This format created tension in the story because few people see the same event or situation in the same way, and some don’t care. If, like me, you find privileged and talented people destroying their lives and complaining because people don’t understand them, or treat them unfairly, or whatever other tale-of-woe they’re sharing more than a little tedious, then you’re going to have to push through. Overall, the story is a little Fleetwood Mac and a little “A Star Is Born.” By the end, I enjoyed it. I still haven’t watched the series, so I’m not sure how the adaptation turned out.

Having read that, my daughter recommended another book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that is slated for an adaptation on Netflix, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” At this time, there are producers on board, but no script, so you have plenty of time to read it before watching it. Fans of the book are all over the internet with recommendations for the cast, including Rita Moreno, Jessica Chastain, Harry Styles and Alexander Skarsgard (is it me, or are the Skarsgards turning up everywhere?) and Ryan Gosling - just to name a few. Also written as an interview, this book has only two primary voices, those of Evelyn Hugo, bombshell and the queen of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and of her biographer, Monique Grant. Given the fact that Evelyn has had seven husbands, Monique’s very first question is who was the love of Evelyn’s life. That begins a complex tale of the scheming and sacrifice required to make it in the Studio System days of Hollywood, including the very reason that Evelyn, at 79 years of age, chose Monique, a talented but obscure magazine writer, to be her biographer. In the end you may love Evelyn, you may hate her, or you may struggle with both emotions, but you will have seen the humanity behind the films and photos that made Evelyn Hugo a household name.

Make plans now! This November, “All the Light We Cannot See” will be streaming on Netflix. If you have never read it, do yourself a favor and read it this summer. It is a BEAUTIFUL book by the incomparable Anthony Doerr.
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Happy Reading and Happy Summer!