#r; THE CALL OF DIANA { the thorn }

[quitethepirategal]

Tag Fix  ~  { 4 / 8 }  ~  ship tags  { a }

[francesderwent]

I think my book total for the year was one hundred and twenty-four. I’m absolutely tickled pink.

the book list, with the most recent at the top and recommendations marked by an asterisk, is below the cut:

*Thomas Aquinas, and What I Saw In America, G.K. Chesterton *White Cat and Red Glove, Holly Black *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke *Sunshine, Robin McKinley How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories, Holly Black *The Hawthorne Legacy, Jennifer Lynn Barnes *The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik *The Man in the Queue, Josephine Tey In the Last Analysis, Amanda Cross *The Seer and the Sword, Victoria Hanley Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell Call Down the Hawk and Mr. Impossible, Maggie Stiefvater The Box in the Woods, Maureen Johnson *Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers The Box in the Woods, Maureen Johnson *Something New, P.G. Wodehouse *The Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison Not Like the Movies, Kerry Winfrey *A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik *Frederica, Georgette Heyer *Heretics, G.K. Chesterton *Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters *Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses, Kristen O'Neal Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams *The Blatchford Controversies, G.K. Chesterton *The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume V: The Outline of Sanity, The Appetite of Tyranny, The Crimes of England, The End of the Armistice, Utopia of Usurers Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro *Would Like To Meet, Rachel Winters *The Nine Tailors, Dorothy Sayers The City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty *Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner *The Ordinary Princess, M.M. Kaye Princess of Thorns, Stacey Jay Well Met, Jen DeLuca The Unexpected Everything, Morgan Matson *The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis *Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer Strange Practice, Vivian Shaw *The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton Volume III: Where All Roads Lead, The Catholic Church and Conversion, Why I Am A Catholic, The Thing: Why I Am A Catholic, The Well and the Shallows, The Way of the Cross *Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy Sayers *Garment of Shadows, by Laurie King *Renegades, Archenemies, and *Supernova, by Marissa Meyer *The Fixer and *The Long Game, Jennifer Lynn Barnes How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, K. Eason American Primitive, Mary Oliver *Have His Carcase, Dorothy Sayers *The Martian, Andy Weir *The Theft of Sunlight, Intisar Khanani *The Switch, Beth O'Leary *A Scholar of Magics, Caroline Stevermer Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey *Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer *A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman The Lovely and the Lost, Jennifer Lynn Barnes *The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis Moon Over Soho, Ben Aaronovitch The Five Red Herrings, Dorothy Sayers *How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, K. Eason *The Silence of St. Thomas, Josef Pieper Tiny Pretty Things, Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton *A Thousand Mornings and *Felicity, by Mary Oliver *Eugenics and Other Evils, G.K. Chesterton *Thorn, Intisar Khanani Midnight Riot, Ben Aaronovitch *The Night Country, Melissa Albert *Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer *If These Wings Could Fly, Kyrie McCauley *Pirate King, Laurie R King The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren *Strong Poison, Dorothy Sayers *A College of Magics, Caroline Stevermer *Therese, Dorothy Day *Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, Morgan Matson Killer Instinct, *All In, and Bad Blood, Jennifer Lynn Barnes *The Superstition of Divorce, G.K. Chesterton *Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen *The Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer *The Lost Husband, Katherine Center *The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Dorothy Sayers The Naturals, Jennifer Lynn Barnes Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho *The God of the Hive, Laurie R. King *The Flatshare, Beth O'Leary *Dare We Hope, Hans Urs von Balthasar *The Leaf and the Cloud, Mary Oliver *Unnatural Death, Dorothy Sayers *Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones *Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer *The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton *The Light Princess, George Macdonald The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness Save the Date, Jenny B. Jones Save the Date, Morgan Matson *Deadly Little Scandals, Jennifer Lynn Barnes *An Enchantment of Ravens, Margaret Rogerson Stately Pursuits, Katie Fforde *The Language of Bees, Laurie R. King *Clouds of Witness, Dorothy Sayers *Little White Lies, Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix *Given, Wendell Berry These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer *The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert *Since You've Been Gone, Morgan Matson Simon the Coldhearted, Georgette Heyer Camp So-and-So, Mary McCoy The Girl in Blue, P.G. Wodehouse *The Inheritance Games, Jennifer Lynn Barnes House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig

I might do a favorites write-up like I did last year, stay tuned!

[brightbeautifulthings]

A - C | D - H | I - L | M - O | P - R | S - Z | Recent

Reviews are alphabetical by author and then by title.

Sachar, Louis - Holes - Small Steps

Sáenz, Benjamin Alire - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Sager, Riley - Final Girls - The Last Time I Lied - Lock Every Door

Sakavic, Nora - Elysium - The Foxhole Court - The King's Men - The Raven King - The Sunshine Court

Sanders, Bernie - Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In

Sarrantonio, Al - Halloweenland

Satrapi, Marjane - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

Schaeffer, Rebecca - Not Even Bones - Only Ashes Remain - When Villains Rise

Schow, Betsy - Spelled

Schumacher, Ashley - Amelia Unabridged - Full Flight

Schwab, Victoria (V.E.) - Our Dark Duet - This Savage Song - Vengeful - Vicious

Schwartz, Alvin - More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones

Schwartz, Alyssa - The Lost Causes

Scorza, Nick - People of the Lake

Scott, Victoria - We Told Six Lies

Sebastian, Laura - Ash Princess

Sedoti, Chelsea - As You Wish

Selznick, Brian - Wonderstruck

Sepetys, Ruta - Between Shades of Gray

Sergi, Zachary - Major Detours

Shaffer, Mary Ann - The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

Shah, London - The Light at the Bottom of the World

Shallcross, Leife - The Beast’s Heart

Shapero, Rich - Balcony of Fog

Sheff, Nic - Tweak

Sheinmel, Alyssa - A Danger to Herself and Others

Showalter, Gena - A Mad Zombie Party

Shusterman, Neal - Challenger Deep - UnBound - UnDivided - UnSouled - UnWholly - Unwind

Silverman, Laura - You Asked For Perfect

Simmons, Kristen - Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

Simon, Shaun - The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

Simone, Sierra - A Merry Little Meet Cute

Smythe, Rachel - Lore Olympus: Volume One - Lore Olympus: Volume Two - Lore Olympus: Volume Three

Snyder, C.W. - Child of Nod - Queen of Nod

Sparks, Kerrelyn - All I Want For Christmas Is A Vampire

Spinelli, Jerry - Love, Stargirl - Stargirl

Springer, Nancy - The Oddling Prince

St. Clair, Scarlett - A Touch of Darkness

Stanojevic, Ana - Fire Wave

Steinbeck, John - Of Mice & Men

Stiefvater, Maggie - All The Crooked Saints - Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Call Down the Hawk - The Dream Thieves - Forever - Greywaren - Linger - Mister Impossible - The Raven Boys - The Raven King - The Scorpio Races - Shiver - Sinner

Stine, R.L. - The Awakening Evil - Cheerleaders: The Evil Lives! - Cheerleaders: The First Evil - Cheerleaders: The New Evil - Cheerleaders: The Second Evil - Cheerleaders: The Third Evil - The Dead Boyfriend - The Haunted Mask - The Haunted Mask II - Say Cheese and Die! - Say Cheese and Die– Again!

Stoppard, Tom - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Suma, Nova Ren - Imaginary Girls - 17 & Gone - A Room Away From the Wolves - The Walls Around Us

Sutherland, Krystal - House of Hollow - Our Chemical Hearts - A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares

Sutton, Kelsey (K.J.) - Fortuna Sworn - Smoke & Key

Suzuki, Kōji - Ring

Swyler, Erika - The Book of Speculation

Tahir, Sabaa - An Ember in the Ashes - A Reaper at the Gates - A Sky Beyond the Storm - A Torch Against the Night

Tartt, Donna - The Secret History

Taylor, Laini - Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Days of Blood & Starlight - Dreams of Gods & Monsters - Muse of Nightmares - Night of Cake & Puppets - Strange the Dreamer

Thiede, Emily - This Vicious Grace

Thomas, Aiden - Lost in the Never Woods

Thomas, Angie - The Hate U Give

Thomas, Kara - The Cheerleaders

Thomas, Scott - Violet

Thorne, Jack - Harry Potter & The Cursed Child

Thorne, Sally - The Hating Game

Tiffany, John - Harry Potter & The Cursed Child

Tremblay, Paul - Floating Boy & The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly

Tucholke, April Genevieve - Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea - Between the Spark & the Burn - Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

Urban, Diana - All Your Twisted Secrets

Valentine, Danielle - How to Survive Your Murder

Vega, Danielle - Survive The Night

Veste, Luca - The Bone Keeper

Wallace, David Foster - Infinite Jest - The Pale King - This Is Water: Some Thoughts … about Living a Compassionate Life

Wallace, Kali - Shallow Graves

Walters, Damien Angelica - The Dead Girls Club

Ward, Catriona - The Last House on Needless Street - Little Eve - Looking Glass Sound - Sundial

Ware, Ruth - In A Dark, Dark Wood

Warga, Jasmine - My Heart and Other Black Holes

Way, Gerard - The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

Weingarten, Lynn - Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls

Wells, H.G. - The War of the Worlds

Wexler, Jennie - Where It All Lands

Weyr, Garret - The Language of Spells

WhatAreFears - Not Easily Conquered

Whitcomb, Laura - A Certain Slant of Light - Under the Light

White, Kiersten - The Camelot Betrayal - The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein - The Excalibur Curse - The Guinevere Deception - Hide

Wilkinson, Brian - Paramnesia

Williams, Kate - Never Coming Home

Wilson, Carter - Mister Tender’s Girl

Winfrey, Kerry - Not Like the Movies - Waiting for Tom Hanks

Winning, Joshua (Josh) - Burn the Negative - Camp Carnage - Heads Will Roll - The Shadow Glass

Wolff, Tracy - Crave

Woodson, Jacqueline - Brown Girl Dreaming

Wyndham, John - The Day of the Triffids

Yamashita, Karen Tei - Tropic of Orange

Yolen, Jane - The Emerald Circus

Yoon, Nicola - Everything, Everything - The Sun Is Also a Star

Young, Suzanne - Hotel for the Lost - The Program

Yovanoff, Brenna - The Replacement

Yuknavitch, Lidia - The Chronology of Water

Zappia, Francesca - Eliza and Her Monsters - Katzenjammer - Now Entering Addamsville

Zentner, Jeff - Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee

[dianamargolis]

{ emmy rossum ♔ twenty-nine ♔ she/her } well, well, well if it isn’t diana margolis running around peach hollow. legend has it, they come from tangerine towers and have lived here for one week. if you’re wondering what they’ve been up to, i hear they’re a bartender at cloud nine for a living. they have been known to be temperamental but empathetic. a word of advice to them, always look over your shoulder. you never know who is watching. { ellie ♔ 24 ♔ cst ♔ she/her }

If someone were to ask Di if she liked labels, she would tell them that she didn’t on principle but could still see their use. Labels are restrictive, closing the wearer in a small box until they suffocate. However, labels also hid the complexity of a person’s past and experiences, reducing them to a few words.

So, Di will happily inform someone that she is an Aries, a hot-headed brawler, a nomad, a party-girl, a solid 4 on the Kinsey Scale, and a sarcastic bitch. What those labels hide are anyone’s guess, as she opens up to people so rarely. There is a softer side of her that few get to see. If she loves someone, she will take care of them and defend them to the ends of the universe, but she never allows anyone to care for her deep, secret wounds.

Peach Hollow was just another stop on the road. She plans to stay a few months, just long enough to pay her way to the next town. It’s been this way almost half her life. She assumes this quaint Georgia town will be just like all the others, but she has no idea the hornet’s nest she has stumbled upon.

B A C K S T O R Y

tw: suicide, domestic abuse, child abuse, violence

▼ born in the Bronx, NYC as Pearl Isaacson ▼ father: Malcolm Isaacson (Italian/English) || mother: Joanna Margolis (Ashkenazim) ▼ sister: Mia Isaacson (six years younger) ▼ Her mother committed suicide when Diana was just seven years old, leaving her alone with her baby sister. She knew why. She had peaked through a crack in the doorway to see the continents of bruises on the map that was her mother’s body. ▼ It didn’t take long for Malcolm to turn to the next punching bag. It happened to be Diana. ▼ Child services stepped in when Diana was nine, Mia three. For the next six years, the two of them bounced around foster homes. Sometimes they were put together, and Diana was able to protect her little sister, but sometimes they weren’t. Some families would foster a sweet seven year old but refused to take in an unruly teenager. ▼ Her father remarried to a woman who could nearly rival his cruelness. Every once in awhile, he would convince the courts to let him try again. Fool them all by putting on the perfect show of a happy family. No one listened to her, what she had to say. ▼ There came a moment when she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed out. She begged Mia to come with her, but she wouldn’t. So, she fled. ▼ She lived on the street for awhile before stumbling upon a group of young punks at the skatepark. She fell right into the group, joining all of them. She learned how to have fun, how to skateboard, and, most importantly in her eyes, learned how to fight. Often, an argument would result in a left hook and then someone on the ground. A few times, an entire brawl had broken out. With every busted lip and bloody nose, Diana grew stronger. ▼ Artemis - Missy - was among this group The two instantly clicked. Missy would sneak her in through the window at night, letting her share her bed. She still remembers her first kiss with the girl: the window cracked, letting in the November chill, the smell of her strawberry shampoo, black-tipped fingers tracing circles on her hipbone. She was her first love. But after a year together, that young love fizzled, hardening Diana yet again.

P E R S O N A L I T Y

▼ Myers-Briggs: ISTP ▼ sun:  ▼ sexual orientation: bisexual (4 on the Kinsey Scale) ▼ Diana isn’t necessarily “mean”, but no one would ever make the mistake of calling her “nice” either. She isn’t the easiest person to get along with, especially when she’s in a mood. ▼ She’s all about vibes, and if she senses someone has a bad vibe, she is very likely to be closed-off, if not down-right rude. ▼ DO NOT piss her off. She is ruthless, but not in a cold and calculated way. She is brutal and merciless. She is looking to scratch that itch and put her fists to use, so it’s probably best not to give her an excuse. ▼ She tries not to get in anyone’s business. People are drama, and she has enough of that on her own. Somehow, though, she seems to always end up somewhere in the middle. ▼ She can be funny and flirty when the mood strikes her, but that is a mask. It all is. She falls in love every once in awhile, but it always ends in heartache, so she never lets anyone get close to her, to really know her. When she loves someone though, she protects them fiercely. 

A P P E A R A N C E

▼ curly, messy hair that is often thrown into a bun ▼   often seen in thrift-shop clothes ▼ tattoos: silhouetted birds in flight wrapping around left forearm, crescent moon on right middle finger, band of intertwined barbed wire and rose thorns on her right bicep ▼ scars: faded scar across eyebrow, small scar on upper lip, trio of small and well-faded round scars on left tricep, broken nose ▼ usually has at least two or three bruises in different states of healing, and will sometimes show evidence of her fights (i.e. busted lip, scuffed knuckles, etc.)

M I S C .

▼ She owns a ‘78 olive green Gremlin that she cares for and maintains like it is her child. She won it in an underground fight. ▼ She participates in underground fights on a regular basis, whenever she is feeling agitated. Often she’s the underdog and can make decent bank betting on herself. For awhile, at least.

[isfjmel-phleg]

My goodness, what an old post! How about some new additions?

The Chronicles of Prydain (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King) by Lloyd Alexander

The No Ordinary Faery Tale series (Knife, Rebel, and Arrow) by R. J. Anderson 

The Flight and Flame Trilogy (Swift, Nomad, and Torch) by R. J. Anderson

The Uncommon Magic series (A Pocket Full of Murder and A Little Taste of Poison) by R. J. Anderson

The Hotel under the Sand by Kage Baker

Katie John and Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

Blue Willow by Doris Gates

A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

The Castle behind Thorns and Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The Chrestomanci series (Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona, Which Witch?, Conrad’s Fate, The Pinhoe Egg, and Mixed Magics) by Diana Wynne Jones [I like some of these better than others]

The Austen family series (Meet the Austins, The Moon by Night, The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light, and Troubling a Star) by Madeleine L’Engle [feel free to skip The Young Unicorns--it is truly bizarre and doesn’t really affect later books]

Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace

Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin

The Flight of Swans and Valiant by Sarah McGuire

The Story Girl and The Golden Road by L. M. Montgomery

Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery

Octagon Magic by Andre Norton

A Handful of Time by Kit Pearson

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson

The Stella Montgomery Intrigue series (Withering-by-Sea, Wormwood Mire, and Wakestone Hall) by Judith Rossell

Dark House on the Moss; Emeralds for the King; Enemy Brothers; The Good Ship Red Lily; Magic in My Shoes; Moonshine in Candle Street;   Pippin’s House; The Reb and the Redcoats; Redhead at School; and Welcome, Santza by Constance Savery [most of these are out of print and some are harder to find than others, but if you only read one, read Enemy Brothers--it’s amazing]

The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

Pauline by Margaret Storey

Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr

Mirror of Danger by Pamela Sykes

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

The Nevermoor series (Nevermoor, Wundersmith, and Hollowpox) by Jessica Townsend

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

When Patty Went to College and Just Patty by Jean Webster

Mother Carey’s Chickens by Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons) by Patricia C. Wrede

brightmaiden replied to your post: 11, 12, 20, 32, 55

I’ll have to get some recommendations from you. I haven’t read Wodehouse, but I’m always looking for good middle grade reads (I’m a youth librarian) and classics (which I read more rarely but always refresh my mind).

A youth librarian! I am quite impressed. That’s what I want to be, if ever I get to grow up.

Wodehouse is worth reading if you like British humor. He’s best known for his Jeeves and Wooster stories, about a “mentally negligible” upper-class young man and his much smarter valet, a ruthless but thorough problem-solver. But there are also numerous romantic comedies. And the Blandings Castle series: think Downton Abbey, but with less drama and more imposters, flower-pot throwing, and extremely important pigs. My personal favorite is Psmith (the p is silent), a monocled, loquacious fellow with brilliant social manipulation skills–the ultimate ENTP. If you’re going to start with Psmith, though, be warned that the first couple of books will bombard you with cricket jargon. If you can get past that, the stories and the central friendship are worth it.

As for recommendations for middle grade, these are some of my favorites, though no doubt you’re already familiar with many of them.

Little Women, Little Men, and Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

The Oz books by L. Frank Baum

The Wizard of Oz

The Marvelous Land of Oz

Ozma of Oz

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

The Road to Oz

The Emerald City of Oz

The Sea Fairies

Sky Island

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Tiktok of Oz

The Scarecrow of Oz

Rinkitink in Oz

The Lost Princess of Oz

The Tin Woodman of Oz

The Magic of Oz

Glinda of Oz

The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall

The Penderwicks

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary

Beezus and Ramona

Ramona the Pest

Ramona the Brave

Ramona and Her Father

Ramona and Her Mother

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Ramona Forever

Ramona’s World

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda by Roald Dahl

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Redwall, Mattimeo, and Mossflower by Brian Jacques

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

I Want to Go Home and the Macdonald Hall series by Gordon Korman

This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall

Go Jump in the Pool

Beware the Fish

The War with Mr. Wizzle

The Zucchini Warriors

Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood

Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and His Boy

The Magician’s Nephew

The Last Battle

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

The Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace

Betsy-Tacy

Betsy-Tacy and Tib

Betsy and Tacy Go over the Big Hill

Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic by Betty Macdonald

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

The Story of the Treasure Seekers, Five Children and It, The Magic World, The Enchanted Castle, and The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter

The Humming Room by Ellen Potter

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

The Shoes books by Noel Streatfeild

Ballet Shoes

Theater Shoes

Dancing Shoes

Skating Shoes

Movie Shoes

Traveling Shoes

Tennis Shoes

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods

Little House on the Prairie

Farmer Boy

On the Banks of Plum Creek

By the Shores of Silver Lake

The Long Winter

Little Town on the Prairie

These Happy Golden Years

The First Four Years

The 100 Cupboards series by N. D. Wilson

100 Cupboards

Dandelion Fire

The Chestnut King

[newyorktheater]

The dog days of August turn out to be full of theater news – even about dogs; these comfort dogs were watching Billy Elliot at the Stratford Festival, reportedly to practice what it’s like to help their handlers navigate through a theater. (So where are the handlers?) If there is relatively little actual theater happening for the rest of the month,  there have been a huge number of announcements — about new shows, new seasons, complete casts. Plus: theater and politics, and the tawdry side of Broadway.

Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews

  Rave Theater Festival: Sweet Lorraine, Ni Mi Madre, Stormy Weather

What a sweet surprise to discover Valisia LeKae, so exquisite in her Tony nominate role as Diana Ross in Motown five years ago, portraying Lorraine Hansberry in Sweet Lorraine.

  Make Believe: Bess Wohl’s Elliptical Look at Child Neglect

48 Hours in Harlem with Ntozake Shange

On The Exhale: Gun Violence as Adrenaline on WNET

  The Week in New York Theater News

From the stage of the Lunt-Fontanne during his last performance, Barry Manilow announced that his long-aborning musical, Harmony, about German/Jewish singing group Comedian Harmonists, will be presented Feb 11 – March 29, 2020 via National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

I have a personal interest in “Harmony,” because I interviewed Roman Cycowski, the last surviving Comedian Harmonist, shortly before he died at age 97 — such a famous Jewish singer that he actually met Hitler once, and lived to tell the tale

Diana, a musical about Princess Diana, will open on Broadway, March 31, 2020 at the Longacre Theater. Jeanna de Waal will be portraying Diana, joined by Roe Hartrampf as Prince Charles, Erin Davie as Camilla Parker Bowles and Judy Kaye as Queen Elizabeth, all of whom will be reprising their roles from the world-premiere production at LaJolla Playhouse. Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) will direct the show, written by the Tony Award-winning team behind the musical Memphis, Joe DiPietro and David Bryan.

Paula Vogel

Playwright Paul Vogel returns to Broadway (after her long-delayed debut “Indecent”) with her Pulitzer-winning, 1997 play How I Learned to Drive, with its original Off-Broadway stars Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse, directed by Mark Brokaw. The story of a child molester opens April 22, 2020 at MTC‘s Samuel J. Friedman Theater. This will be Parker’s second Broadway show in the season: She’ll star in Adam Rapp’s  “The Sound Inside” at Studio 54 in the fall.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is coming to Broadway, opening October 16, 2019 at the Longacre and running for 16 weeks. I saw this five years ago Off-Broadway. (My review.)  Still just an hour long?

A Christmas Carol will play at Broadway’s Lyceum Theater November 7, 2019 – January 5, 2020, in a version written by Jack Thorne (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”) and directed by Matthew Warchus, who directed Broadway’s “Groundhog Day.” Cambell Scott will star as Ebenezer Scrooge.

“Installation on America,” FREE collaborative theater piece exploring race relations, by @LabTheaterNYC (eg @johnortiz718 @DaveAnzuelo @nycbatwife @Kellrod@AaronRWeiner et al) thrice nightly August 22-24 at @CherryLnTheatre, in support of @RAICESTEXAS & @ACLU pic.twitter.com/EqQqZJTV8O

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) August 16, 2019

  The cast of “The Inheritance,” a play by Matthew Lopez about a new generation of gay mean that opens November 17, will feature Lois Smith, John Benjamin Hickey and Jordan Barbour, Jonathan Burke, Andrew Burnap, Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr., Dylan Frederick, Kyle Harris, Paul Hilton, Samuel H. Levine, Carson McCalley, Kyle Soller, and Arturo Luis Soria (whom I just saw in his solo show “Ni Mi Madre”)

Nineteen actors portray 50 characters in Robert Schenkkan’s  “The  Great  Society,” his  follow-up  play  about  President  Lyndon  Johnson, opening Oct 1. Here’s the full cast list:

James Cusati Moyer and Ato Blankson-Wood

Sullivan Jones and Annie McNamara

The cast of Slave Play, which opens October 6 at Broadway’s John Golden Theater and runs through January 5, will feature the actors who appeared in it Off-Broadway — Ato Blankson-Wood, James Cusati-Moyer, Sullivan Jones, Chalia La Tour, Irene Sofia Lucio, Annie McNamara, and Paul Alexander Nolan — joined by Joaquina Kalukango who will create the role of Kaneisha for the Broadway production. The cast is being understudied by Eboni Flowers, Thomas Keegan, Jakeem Dante Powell, and Elizabeth Stahlmann.

Mary Beth Peil as Duncan  will join Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Classic Stage Company’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy, October 10 to December 15. The cast will also feature  Erik Lochtefeld as Banquo, Barzin Akhavan as Macduff, Raffi Barsoumian as Malcolm, N’Jameh Camara as Lady Macduff, Antonio Michael Woodard as Fleance/Young Macduff and Jade Wu as Ros

Consummate director Anne Kauffman (Marjorie Prime, Marvin’s Room, Maple and Vine, Mary Jane, and dozens of plays that don’t begin with “M”)  will helm Sarah Silverman’s musical memoir The Bedwetter, which will begin performances on April 25th, 2020 at the Atlantic Theater

All hail @LaMaMaETC‘s forthcoming 58th season, which celebrates founder Ellen Stewart’s centennial & features premieres by Philip Glass, Andrei Serban, Estelle Parsons, Theodora Skipitares, Anne Bogart & many morehttps://t.co/mZOSiDLR9v pic.twitter.com/ffe4FWchSr

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) August 14, 2019

“The reason why I’m sitting here talking to you & not dead or in jail is because the theater saved my life”- @theebillyporter on why he stays in theater (latest: directing @Huntington) despite @PoseOnFX TV fame.@AmericanTheatre interview w/ @diepthoughthttps://t.co/YdTCP5WPuf pic.twitter.com/6Abbfk6XD0

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) August 16, 2019

Politics and Theater

Margaret Trudeau, mother to one Canadian prime minister and ex-wife to another, will perform her solo show, Certain Woman of an Age, for three nights (September 12-14) at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre. “She opens up about her wild child days, isolating marriage, motherhood and disastrous romances with famous men.” This is part of “Special Audible Performances” which will be recorded as audio books. (Later in September at the Minetta Lane: Diana Nyad’s “The Swimmer”)

  More than a thousand protesters in Hong Kong sang Les Miserables’ ‘Do you hear the people sing?’ at HK international airport with their calls for free election and democracy

More than thousand HKers sing Les Miserables’ ‘Do you hear the people sing?’ at HK international airport with their calls for free election and democracy. Here is the Ground Zero in the war against authoritarian rule. That’s the reason for us never surrender. pic.twitter.com/1MkTp4BkVg

— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) August 10, 2019

  Can live theater help spur climate action?

The Tawdry Side of Theater

Ben Sprecher, “duped” producer of Rebecca.

Ben Sprecher, a Broadway producer best-known for the “Rebecca” debacle,  was arrested on child porn charges. Ben Sprecher, 65, of Manhattan, was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography

Faye Dunaway in Tea at Five

Michael Rocha, Faye Dunaway’s $1,500-a-week assistant on Mathew Lombardo’s play “Tea at Five” during its Boston tryout, filed a suit against the actress in  Manhattan Supreme Court accusing her of “regularly and relentlessly” subjecting him to “abusive demeaning tirades” that included calling him “little homosexual boy.” Rocha claims that after he complained about the behavior, he was fired, told  Dunaway “is not comfortable with you anymore.”

The producers of the solo play about Katherine Hepburn fired Dunaway, after accusations that she abused the crew, and scrapped plans for the show.

  Rest In Peace

Peter Fonda with daughter Bridget Fonda

“Henry Fonda’s son: That’s how everybody identified me until Easy Rider came along.” Peter Fonda, 79, who was also a Broadway veteran, appearing in the 1961 “Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole”

  Opening in NY: Manilow’s Harmony, Diana, How I Learned to Drive, The Lightning Thief, A Christmas Carol. Tawdry Broadway. #Stageworthy News Up The Wazoo. The dog days of August turn out to be full of theater news – even about dogs; these comfort dogs were watching Billy Elliot at the Stratford Festival, reportedly to practice what it's like to help their handlers navigate through a theater.

[allbestnet]

Goodreads Choice Award for Romance (2009 — 2016)

Decided by voting open to all members of Goodreads, the Goodreads Choice Awards are the only major book awards chosen by readers. Voting in 20 categories happens in November, and the winners are announced in December. The GCAs launched in 2009.

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 6)

It Ends with Us

Colleen Hoover | 4.43 avg rating — 102,769 ratings

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST. Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

N O M I N E E ( 2 0 1 6 )

Demi-Apollyon (A TITAN NOVEL)

by J.C. Starling

4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings

Kings Rising (Captive Prince, #3)

by C.S. Pacat

4.49 avg rating — 18,878 ratings

One with You (Crossfire, #5)

by Sylvia Day

4.05 avg rating — 39,872 ratings

Beard Science (Winston Brothers, #3)

by Penny Reid

4.49 avg rating — 11,199 ratings

Beautiful Burn (The Maddox Brothers, #4)

by Jamie McGuire

4.11 avg rating — 16,091 ratings

Storm and Silence (Storm and Silence, #1)

by Robert Thier

4.52 avg rating — 14,285 ratings

The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #14)

by J.R. Ward

4.45 avg rating — 18,615 ratings

Because of Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys, #1)

by Julia Quinn

3.87 avg rating — 12,768 ratings

The Hating Game

by Sally Thorne

4.24 avg rating — 32,367 ratings

The Obsession

by Nora Roberts

4.18 avg rating — 39,635 ratings

Big Rock

by Lauren Blakely

3.96 avg rating — 20,656 ratings

RoomHate

by Penelope Ward

4.06 avg rating — 27,356 ratings

The Score (Off-Campus, #3)

by Elle Kennedy

4.27 avg rating — 36,702 ratings

Stuck-Up Suit

by Vi Keeland

4.14 avg rating — 32,780 ratings

Paper Princess (The Royals, #1)

by Erin Watt

4.06 avg rating — 45,288 ratings

Punk 57

by Penelope Douglas

4.22 avg rating — 17,880 ratings

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

by Mariana Zapata

4.34 avg rating — 32,702 ratings

Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater, Part One (King, #5)

by T.M. Frazier

4.62 avg rating — 6,196 ratings

Blackwing Dragon (Harper’s Mountains, #5)

by T.S. Joyce

4.56 avg rating — 2,193 ratings

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 5)

Confess

Colleen Hoover | 4.24 avg rating — 89,690 ratings

From bestselling author Colleen Hoover, comes a new novel about risking everything for love — and finding your heart somewhere between the truth and lies. Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry. For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping some major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it. The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

N O M I N E E ( 2 0 1 5 )

Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover (The Rules of Scoundrels, #4)

by Sarah MacLean

3.94 avg rating — 10,117 ratings

Captivated by You (Crossfire, #4)

by Sylvia Day

4.07 avg rating — 72,585 ratings

Deep (Stage Dive, #4)

by Kylie Scott

4.09 avg rating — 28,530 ratings

The Secret of Pembrooke Park

by Julie Klassen

4.00 avg rating — 7,388 ratings

The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #13)

by J.R. Ward

4.29 avg rating — 23,914 ratings

Souls Unfractured (Hades Hangmen, #3)

by Tillie Cole

4.50 avg rating — 12,634 ratings

Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers, #2)

by Jamie McGuire

4.14 avg rating — 34,058 ratings

Wicked (A Wicked Saga, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.08 avg rating — 16,443 ratings

Thoughtful (Thoughtless, #1.5)

by S.C. Stephens

4.23 avg rating — 14,710 ratings

The Law of Moses (The Law of Moses, #1)

by Amy Harmon

4.37 avg rating — 18,452 ratings

Consolation (Salvation, #3)

by Corinne Michaels

4.36 avg rating — 13,760 ratings

The Liar

by Nora Roberts

3.96 avg rating — 25,272 ratings

Ride Steady (Chaos, #3)

by Kristen Ashley

4.45 avg rating — 19,738 ratings

Hero (Hero, #1)

by Samantha Young

4.10 avg rating — 25,126 ratings

The Deal (Off-Campus, #1)

by Elle Kennedy

4.30 avg rating — 82,256 ratings

The Air He Breathes (Elements, #1)

by Brittainy C. Cherry

4.21 avg rating — 35,043 ratings

Grey (Fifty Shades, #4)

by E.L. James

3.76 avg rating — 107,034 ratings

Him (Him #1)

by Sarina Bowen

4.34 avg rating — 16,100 ratings

Hollywood Dirt (Hollywood Dirt, #1)

by Alessandra Torre

4.12 avg rating — 22,875 ratings

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 4 )

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (Outlander, #8)

Diana Gabaldon | 4.50 avg rating — 64,646 ratings

In her now classic novel Outlander, Diana Gabaldon told the story of Claire Randall, an English ex-combat nurse who walks through a stone circle in the Scottish Highlands in 1946, and disappears . . . into 1743. The story unfolded from there in seven bestselling novels, and CNN has called it “a grand adventure written on a canvas that probes the heart, weighs the soul and measures the human spirit across [centuries].” Now the story continues in Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. 1778: France declares war on Great Britain, the British army leaves Philadelphia, and George Washington’s troops leave Valley Forge in pursuit. At this moment, Jamie Fraser returns from a presumed watery grave to discover that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitimate son has discovered (to his horror) who his father really is, and his beloved nephew, Ian, wants to marry a Quaker. Meanwhile, Jamie’s wife, Claire, and his sister, Jenny, are busy picking up the pieces. The Frasers can only be thankful that their daughter Brianna and her family are safe in twentieth-century Scotland. Or not. In fact, Brianna is searching for her own son, who was kidnapped by a man determined to learn her family’s secrets. Her husband, Roger, has ventured into the past in search of the missing boy . . . never suspecting that the object of his quest has not left the present. Now, with Roger out of the way, the kidnapper can focus on his true target: Brianna herself.

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 3 )

Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #11)

J.R. Ward | 4.30 avg rating — 52,595 ratings

J. R. Ward brings together two of the most beloved people in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world — at last…. Qhuinn, son of no one, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has found an identity as a brutal fighter in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another…. Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: it seems Qhuinn has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young. It’s hard for Blay to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. And Qhuinn needs to come to terms with some dark things before he can move forward… Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions, but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn learns the true meaning of courage, and two hearts meant to be together finally become one.

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 2 )

Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3)

E.L. James | 3.88 avg rating — 614,608 ratings

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, the Fifty Shades trilogy will obsess you, possess you and stay with you for ever. When Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably. Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them had anticipated. Ana must learn to share Grey’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity or independence; and Grey must overcome his compulsion to control and lay to rest the horrors that still haunt him. Now, finally together, they have love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities. But just when it seems that they really do have it all, tragedy and fate combine to make Ana’s worst nightmares come true …

N O M I N E E  ( 2 0 1 2 )

Bared to You (Crossfire, #1)

by Sylvia Day

4.19 avg rating — 390,516 ratings

Once Burned (Night Prince, #1)

by Jeaniene Frost

4.24 avg rating — 48,552 ratings

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 1 )

Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #9)

J.R. Ward | 4.28 avg rating — 74,274 ratings

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, seductive cloth as her brother. Imprisoned for eons by their mother, the Scribe Virgin, she finally frees herself — only to face a devastating injury. Manuel Manello, MD, is drafted by the Brotherhood to save her as only he can — but when the human surgeon and the vampire warrior meet, their two worlds collide in the face of their undeniable passion. With so much working against them, can love prove stronger than the birth right and the biology that separate them?

N O M I N E E ( 2 0 1 1 )

1. Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)

by E.L. James

3.66 avg rating — 1,445,701 ratings

2.

Gabriel’s Inferno (Gabriel’s Inferno, #1)

by Sylvain Reynard

4.02 avg rating — 128,891 ratings

3.

Hot Head (Head #1)

by Damon Suede

4.09 avg rating — 12,845 ratings

W I N N E R ( 2 0 1 0 )

Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #8)

J.R. Ward | 4.41 avg rating — 90,977 ratings

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.

W I N N E R ( 2 0 0 9 )

An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)

Diana Gabaldon | 4.42 avg rating — 87,302 ratings

The year is 1777. The place, North Carolina. And as the American rebellion grows in intensity, Highlander Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire need to decide which side their family is going to be on.The choice should be an easy one, given that Claire was born in the twentieth century and has already seen the future — in history books. But things are never simple where the Frasers are concerned, as father and son unwittingly come face to face on the battlefield, and an old adversary reaches forward in time to threaten the next generation.Up to now, Claire and Jamie’s love has survived every danger history has put in their path, but in the chaos of war, with families bitterly divided against each other, is the future finally going to catch up with them?

Source:

www.goodreads.com/

[aion-rsa]

David F. Walker on Shaft, Nightshade and the Problem with Cyborg

Critical darling David F. Walker sat down with writer Geoffrey Thorne to discuss his career and perspectives on the industry during a special WonderCon panel focusing on Walker’s career, in comics and beyond.

Among the many stories he shared during the panel, Walker admitted that “Number 13” wasn’t his first professional work after self-publishing comics for many years. He’d previously worked on the English language adaptation of “Tokyo Tribes” for Tokyopop in 2004, though that mainly involved “putting in cuss words.”

Walker described the creative process on “Number 13” — which he called a “postapocalyptic version of Pinocchio” — as unusual. Artist Robert Love approached him to collaborate on a project that already had 24 pages drawn, with no words attached to them. He took more of a hands on role, learning to outline better, and Walker said there had never been any tension between them. “It felt really smooth. A lot of it was figuring out logistics… we’re friends to this day, he’s never pulled a knife on me.” Walker took general details and themes — a mutant eating someone’s leg, fight scenes — and translated that into scripts on a schedule.

Walker grew up in Portland and graduated high school the day Dark Horse Comics opened its doors. He took classes at the Joe Kubert School and the School of Visual Arts, but ended up working as a journalist. Diana Schultz reached out to him at his newspaper in 2001 to see if he would interview Will Eisner, who was coming to Portland for a Dark Horse event. Walker leapt at the chance, as no other outlet in town would cover the comics legend. “Mainstream America did not know who Will Eisner was until two years before he died,” Walker explained.

Eisner was skeptical of Walker at first, but they ended up speaking for two hours about comics, and Eisner found himself impressed with Walker’s comics knowledge. When Walker admitted making comics was his dream but maybe it was too late, Eisner responded, “It’s never too late for anything.” That set a fire under Walker that led him to accept Love’s offer. He’s proud of “Number 13” because it was the first work he didn’t have “in the trunk of my car, you had to have my pager number to get it. I’d be like, ‘You want some comics? I’ll be there in 25 minutes!'”

Shortly after that period, Walker was freelancing for MSN as an entertainment writer. He, along with the other sixteen entertainment writers were fired at the same time, which cemented Walker’s ambitions. “‘Hunger Games’ hadn’t come out, so it was like ‘Battle Royale’ for entertainment writers,” Walker said, who wanted to be writing fiction and comics.

Next in his publishing history came “The Supernals Experiment” with Canon Comics, a company founded by NFL veteran Philip Buchanon. “I’m broke, right? With the money from ‘Supernals,’ I paid an artist to draw ‘The Army of Dr. Moreau’ that had been percolating for five years. Didn’t pay my rent, didn’t pay my car note, didn’t pay any bills — I paid an artist.”

During this period, Walker pursued bringing John Shaft to comics. He tracked down the holders of the publishing rights and explained what he wanted to do: create a comic true to the novels. He got their blessing and brought the deal to Dynamite Entertainment, the only company he felt was right for “Shaft.” “They were silly enough to say ‘yes’ in writing,” Walker explained. A year and a half later, the deal was done.

“When I was looking at publishers that weren’t afraid to do R-rated — it had to be R-rated, not PG-13. They had to go there, and Dynamite was the only one that was going there and was still available in Previews. They were also licensing a lot of stuff.” Walker said he calculated that doing Shaft would “shave maybe two to three years off my professional journey. I hate to sound that cold and calculating.”

Walker’s editor on “Supernals” got a call from “certain publishers I won’t name,” looking for diverse writers. She sent “Supernals” to that company, saying Walker was easy to work with. Shortly before “Shaft” came out from Dynamite, Walker started working on one of their properties.

Revealed that he was talking about DC Comics and “Cyborg,” Walker said, “DC had seen ‘Supernals’ and they had seen ‘Army of Dr. Moreau,’ but they hadn’t seen ‘Shaft.’ I strongly believe DC was like, ‘We need a Black guy.’ I just happened to be in the path as that runaway train hit me. Around the same time, Marvel reached out to me, saying, ‘We love Shaft, you have a clear voice.’ When ‘Cyborg’ came out from DC, Marvel reached out again and they were like, ‘You’re the guy who wrote ‘Shaft?!’ This is what you’re writing?'”

“It was a cage match, it was tables, ladders and chairs,” Walker said of his time on “Cyborg.” “There was a lot of struggle. I was like, ‘You don’t have enough Black characters, so you have to be cognizant that this character means more than you think he means. It’s not the story about, ‘Is he more man or is he more machine?’ He is more man. If he was 99% machine, he’s still gonna be more man. The story is about, he can see his own humanity, it’s always gonna show through. I know because comics meant more to me than they probably should have. Black characters meant more to me than they probably should have, because there were so few of them.” Walker also noted the appeal the character had for disabled fans.

Walker said, “I was under the false impression that all we needed was diverse creators working on diverse characters, and we’d be on our way to fixing a lot of problems. No, you also need diverse editors, people in the marketing department who get it, the distribution angle has to get it, retailers have to get it, the comics journalists have to get it. Unless you get all these things to align, you’re Sisyphus.”

“I left DC prematurely,” Walker said. “Marvel was knocking at my door … it was a scary time. To the outside world, it looked like the timing had been perfect, that I left DC and had my Marvel stuff lined up. There was this gap, I’d drive by a Jiffy Lube and see they were accepting applications. I was a neurotic mess. Marvel was interested. We were talking about a ‘Nick Fury’ solo series, and the editor left and that fell apart. Nighthawk went into development, and we spent a long time on that. ‘Power Man and Iron Fist’ came along.” There were talks of him taking on “Black Panther” as well, but Walker was concerned about being pigeonholed.

Even with that, “Nighthawk” was the title that seemed to answer all fan questions about Black characters, but it didn’t sell well enough to stay afloat. Fortunately, it allowed him to rehabilitate Tilda Johnson a.k.a. Nightshade. “I kind of fell in love with Tilda,” Walker said. While it was Nighthawk’s book, his intention with the undone second story arc was to shift the focus to make her the actual main character, much as Milestone’s Rocket was to Icon. “Tilda is the women that raised me,” Walker said. “My aunts, my grandmother. Now, she’s in ‘Occupy Avengers.’ You couldn’t write a character this angry if it was a Black man.”

The post David F. Walker on Shaft, Nightshade and the Problem with Cyborg appeared first on CBR.

http://ift.tt/2nwJwPO

[jaimiesam]

2016 Reading Wrap-Up

Better late than never with this post I suppose :D

This past year, I read quite a few books. It felt like a slow year, and I jumped around a lot, from genre to genre and series to series. I don’t think I finished any series. Although I actually did get through many books, it didn’t feel like a lot at the time. I really delved into some long books this year, which was both frustrating and rewarding. Those books that took me the longest to read were also some of the ones I enjoyed the most :)

Without further ado, here is the list of books I read this year! I hope you can get some ideas if you didn’t know what to read next! After the list I’ll also go into specifics about some of my favourites, and some of the ones I really didn’t get along with… (Also, just a side note, they’re not organized in anyway other than the order that I read them in!)

The Cuckoo’s Calling - Robert Galbraith

Truthwitch - Susan Dennard

Nimona - Noelle Stevenson

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

11/22/63 - Stephen King

A Study in Charlotte - Brittany Cavallero

Dream On - Kerstin Gier

Ms. Marvel: No Normal - Wilson & Alphona

Young Avengers: Style > Substance - Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Mike Norton

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - J. K. Rowling

Saga Vol 5 - Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

The Crown - Kiera Cass

The Hidden Oracle - Rick Riordan

Kindred Spirits- Rainbow Rowell

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

Out of Sight, Out of Time - Ally Carter

The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy - Sam Maggs

The Blackthorn Key - Kevin Sands

Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins

Saga Vol 6 - Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon

Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

Jessica Jones: Alias Vol 1 - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

Jessica Jones: Alias - Rebecca Come Home Vol 2 - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos

Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

Ant-Man Vol. 1, Second Chance Man - Nick Spencer, Ramon Rosanos

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, Cosmic Avengers - Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven

A Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

White Noise - Don DeLillo

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Angels in America - Tony Kushner

Happily Ever After - Kiera Cass

Magnus Chase: The Hammer of Thor - Rick Riordan

Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri

The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddell

Voyager - Diana Gabaldon

Romeo and What’s Her Name - Shani Petroff

My Favourites

Dragonfly in Amber

Voyager

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A Court of Mist and Fury

I continued the Outlander series this year with books 2 and 3, and they blew me away. Sequels are so hard to get right, but Dragonfly in Amber was a breathtaking story, followed by the thrilling journey of Voyager (read my last post for my full thoughts on Voyager!).

And I started the A Song of Ice and Fire series! I’m really really loving it, and I’ve just started the third book. I must say, I did fly through A Clash of Kings much faster than A Game of Thrones, devouring the majority of it in about a week.

And finally, ACOMAF. I love the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, but her A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series cannot be beat. While I really enjoyed the ACOTAR, ACOMAF was just amazing. I loved where she took the series and the characters (both new and old), and genuinely missed my bus home one day because I was so immersed in reading it.

Honourable Mentions

Nimona

11/22/63

A Study in Charlotte

Jessica Jones Graphic Novels

Stephanie Perkins Novels

White Noise

Now these are books that I greatly enjoyed, but wouldn’t hold to the same level as those on my favourites list. For graphic novels, Nimona was a whimsical, hilarious story that was just extremely enjoyable, and the Jessica Jones: Alias series I found just dark enough, with a more likeable, human Jessica than the TV Show.

I read my first Steven King novel this year! And 11/22/63 was the perfect place to start for me, as I’m not a fan of horror, so I was immediately drawn in by this historical fiction time-travel story, about the assassination of JFK and one man’s attempt to stop it.

As for my favourite contemporary books of the year, I’d immediately go for Stephanie Perkins’ novels. I read Anna back in 2015, so this year got around to reading the last 2 in the trilogy. They were just so easy to read, and such a nice, light break from some of the much heavier books I was reading. I don’t think I spent more than two days reading any of the books, they were just lovely to read.

A Study in Charlotte was a YA Sherlock Holmes inspired novel, where Charlotte Holmes was the inquisitive, intelligent, and quick-witted descendent of Holmes himself, who befriends Jamie Watson (similarly related to John Watson). Although not the most shocking or revolutionary of mysteries, I really enjoyed the dialogue between Holmes’ and Watson, and some of the more serious issues discussed in the text and how they were handled.

And finally, White Noise, a book I read for my English course. This book was one I enjoyed simply because it was the one that frustrated me the most. I absolutely loved how much frustration this book evoked from me. The main character proves to be extremely arrogant, self-centred and misguided as the book progresses, and yet the book makes such intelligent observations of everyday life, it’s really quite interesting to read.

Books I Didn’t Enjoy

Dream On

Everything, Everything

Romeo and What’s Her Name

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child

*sigh* and now for the books that disappointed me… Kerstin Gier penned the Ruby Red Trilogy, another time-travel series that I enjoyed a fair bit, and after reading Dream a Little Dream, I was really anticipating the release of the sequel, Dream On. Unfortunately, it just felt like a filler book, and a lot of it felt unnecessary. I got quite bored with it, and it just didn’t do it for me.

Everything, Everything. Now this book frustrates me. And not in a good way, as with White Noise. It frustrates me in a “why did you go in this direction? It feels like such a lazy ending” sort of way. I was skeptical going into this book, as it deals with a girl who is allergic to everything, and as I have multiple allergies, I am quite picky about how it’s represented in books. I didn’t like the main character, I thought she was rash and made some stupid, reckless, unjustified decisions. And I was extremely annoyed at the ending, it just felt like such an easy out for the author, as she didn’t have to spend the time allowing this character to grow and learn, but rather erase her issues entirely. Overall, I just didn’t get along with this book very well, and yet I do know a lot of people did enjoy it. *shrug* at least the design and format was enjoyable.

Now, this next book comes out Feb. 7, 2017 (I received an arc for review), but unfortunately it wasn’t my favourite. In Romeo and What’s Her Name, the story felt rushed, and the protagonist felt quite childish and cringey at times. I mean, it was cute enough, but there wasn’t enough going on to properly capture my attention.

And finally, dare I say it, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I can’t in my right mind categorize it as a legitimate Harry Potter novel. It wasn’t written by J. K. Rowling. That’s enough for me. It was so lacking in her signature style and voice, and there was an absence of magic in it, that was so necessary to the story and the continuation of these beloved characters. I am such a huge fan of Harry Potter, so I really don’t say this lightly, but I just didn’t enjoy it. I found the plot contradictory to the rules set out in the original HP novels (*cough cough* Prisoner of Azkaban), and there were many things that certain characters did that I did not think would ever be in their nature to do. Specifically a certain line said by Harry. I just did not see it as something he would ever say to his son. I’m sure the stage production was an entirely different experience, and I’d actually be extremely curious to see it, as I have heard amazing things about it. But just from reading it, I didn’t like the story. And the biggest issue for me, once again, was that it just did not feel like a Harry Potter story.

Well, if you’ve made it to the end of this very long post, I applaud you. I do hope you enjoyed it, and got some good book recommendations. I’d love to know your thoughts on any of these books, did you like them? Hate them? Or if you have any book recommendations of your own, I’d love to hear them :D Thanks for reading!