Reading: THE CHELSEA GIRLS - Fiona Davis

This was my first time reading bestselling novelist Davis (The Address, The Dollhouse), known for centering complex fictional stories around iconic addresses or buildings - her newest novel wonderfully showcasing the infamous bohemian haven for artists known as The Chelsea Hotel in New York City. The Chelsea Girls opens with Hazel's arrival in Naples, Italy in what would be the final months of WWII. A young woman from a theatrical family trying to find her own place in the theater, Hazel has joined the USO tour to escape the understudy hell she found herself trapped in, in New York - and soon meets the loud, flamboyant leader of her small theatrical group of USO ladies, Maxine. Hazel resents Maxine at first, even while sort of envying the woman her boldness and seeming lack of fear, and the two become friends, Maxine soon regaling the more naive Hazel with tales of her stay at The Chelsea Hotel back in her own New York days, making the place sound almost magical to the girl. Flash-forward to post-war New York in 1950, and though Maxine has ventured to California Hazel finds herself a little smothered by the memory of her more outgoing, talented older brother - killed during the war - via her mother, who always favored Ben. After an argument with mom, Hazel decides to break away for a few days' reprieve, remembering Maxine's story of the infamous Chelsea - and indeed, Hazel's arrival there, the reader's introduction to the hotel, is so beautifully written the hotel becomes a character in the novel, as well. It's no wonder that, even though Hazel does make up with her mother, she remains where she is, calling The Chelsea her new home even as the hotel seems to direct Hazel- at last - to her real passion: writing. But things are not entirely at peace in New York - in America - as Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch hunt for communist sympathizers grows in momentum from Los Angeles, eventually heading east as Hazel's hard work pays off in her play's mounting of a Broadway production ... just as Maxine, now a fairly famous film star from Hollywood, arrives back in New York and into Hazel's life as its potential star. Much of The Chelsea Girls deals with the blacklist and its aftermath; the lives, careers, and artistic works destroyed by the winds of fear-mongering and hate in the wake of the red scare. And while my own love for New York made the city and The Chelsea leap from nearly every page in this well-written novel, I just couldn't seem to emotionally connect with either Maxine, or especially Hazel, on a level necessary to be fully engaged in the story - which, I think, is why I was unable to fully suspend disbelief enough for certain twists and turns in the plot that (at least initially) seemed too convenient or unrealistic. As the story builds toward its climax, however, I was able to "buy into" the plot points a lot more (thanks to Davis's strong writing skills), by the end coming to a better understanding of the complexities of the friendship between Hazel and Maxine - but still wish I'd felt more bonded to either/both of these women, who for me never fully leapt to living, breathing life off the page. A wonderfully-written, meticulously-researched novel - also a worthy homage to New York City theater and The Chelsea itself - where maybe some more backstory, or time spent with Hazel and Maxine in their earlier years, might have left me more emotionally invested in their story.  3/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: THE AVANT-GUARDS VOL. 1 - Carly Usdin (writer), Noah Hayes (illustrator), Rebecca Nalty (colorist)

Filmmaker Carly Usdin is the driving force behind this graphic novel - composed of the first several issues of the popular comic - that opens with a young woman named Charlie trying to find her way as a new transfer student to the Georgia O'Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics. The campus of focused, arts-oriented and creative students is foreign territory to Charlie, a former basketball star in her previous school days now seeking a new career path, and as she finds herself struggling to make friends and make her way, the young woman, quite ironically, runs into a short, cute, very hyperactive African-American girl named Liv. Liv is everything Charlie isn't - outgoing, open, energetic, a true lover of life and all it has to offer. Where the ironic parts comes in? Liv also happens to be the captain of the Avant-Guards, a motley crew of athletes and non-athletes Liv is determined to turn into a crackerjack basketball team so that their school has some representation on the courts. Liv's also determined that the one player they need to make a full team is Charlie, who resists every temptation to join at first - that is in her past - though she soon falls under Liv's perky little spell and reconsiders helping to get the team off the ground. The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 has a lot of positive energy and some terrific LGBT+ representation all across the board, with individual characters you grow to like. My problem with this compilation is simply that not a lot seems to happen, dramatic conflict kept to such a minimum I found myself (a couple times) checking how many pages I had left to read until I was finished. A budding romance toward the end livens things up considerably - as does a seeing the Avant-Guards in action on the court - but overall, while not bad by any means, volume one of this series just feels like a bland prologue whose purpose is to get you to the cliffhanger at the end, setting some real wheels in motion for volume two.  3/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: THE ODDMIRE, BOOK 1: CHANGELING - William Ritter

After a massive reading slump of nearly two years, in late 2014 I happened across William Ritter's Jackaby - which would end up my favorite read of the year even before spawning three sequels ... so to say the least this reader was eager to get his hands on the first book of Ritter's new fantasy series for middle-grade readers. Changeling opens with the nicest, perhaps most inept goblin ever, Kull, as he slips into a home in the middle of the night to swap out a newborn baby. See, the magic of the surrounding Wild Wood, which Kull and his fellow goblins (and many other creatures) call home, is dying out, but good fortune has brought a changeling to the goblins - a baby that can transform itself into a duplicate of any human baby, so that Kull can steal the human baby and give it to the faeries to raise, securing some magic restoration for the goblins. But when Kull gets distracted in the dark and suddenly finds two identical human babies lying in the cradle in front of him, he's forced to run away empty-handed into the night upon hearing the mother approaching, leaving Annie Burton - after a mild freakout - left to raise both boys as her own, regardless of the town gossip saying one of them is a goblin in disguise. Flash-forward almost thirteen years later and twins Cole and Tinn are irascible pre-teens of their own, living a normal life getting into typical boyhood trouble ... neither of them even knowing if the old tales are true (or which of them is the goblin), even as Kull watches hidden from nearby. Because this time, the goblin has no room for error; if he doesn't get his changeling back in time, it could mean the end of the entire goblin horde for good. Problem? Kull doesn't know which of the very human-looking boys is the precious changeling, either! Ritter's strength as a writer has always been in creating believable, sympathetic characters and infusing even the darkest situations with humor; he did it brilliantly for Jackaby, for older readers, and here gives twins Cole and Tinn their own distinctive voices and personalities as well as we follow their journey into the Wild Wood as they search for answers while going back and forth in our own heads wondering who is the human child and who is the changeling. As if this weren't enough, what no one knows is that with all the creatures they could potentially cross paths with in the Wild Word, beyond the Oddmire, its The Thing who sits in wait for the boys. And the closer they get, the hungrier it gets. Thrilling, complex, mysterious, funny, and even worthy of a tear or two by The End, The Oddmire, Book 1: Changeling brilliantly opens this suspenseful new middle-grade series by a terrific writer for young people.  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. 

Reading: LITTLE BIG NATE: DRAWS A BLANK - Lincoln Peirce

Fans of the Big Nate comic strip series - especially adult fans of Nate's world and creator Lincoln Peirce's extremely funny penchant for snarky humor - will want to start their own kids or nieces/nephews off right with this colorful board book inspired by the day Little Nate gets a big new box of crayons, and tries to figure out what to draw. Illustrated with large, child-like drawings of Nate's various animal artwork kids will have fun trying to duplicate themselves, this is a delightful introduction to both Nate as a character and the world of using your creative/artistic imagination in particular. Though geared toward kids up to age three, Little Big Nate: Draws a Blank is a worthy addition to anyone's collection of volumes featuring the often-hilarious, most self-absorbed little hellion to hit grade school in a long, long time. Words fail me when trying to describe just how much I love this kid.  5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: HOPE - Corrinne Averiss (writer), Sebastien Pelon (illustrator)

This wonderful, inspiring picture book for children follows Finn, a small boy with a very big dog named Comet. Finn and Comet are best friends, playing together, running in the park together; Finn even grudgingly allows the over-sized dog to sleep in his "den" (tent), though Comet is way too big. But one morning the normally boisterous, highly-energetic Comet won't leave his bed, and a hurried trip to the vet confirms that Finn's best friend is quite ill. Saddened beyond belief, Finn must leave Comet behind at the animal clinic overnight, with the vet's promise to do his best. That night, alone in his den where he can release the tears he'd been holding back, Finn notices a flashlight playing on the walls of the tent. It's Finn's dad, who joins him inside, telling Finn he is very sad too - but, using the flashlight as an example, advises the boy that "Hope is keeping a light on, however dark things seem." It's advice Finn takes to heart in bed that night, his flashlight burning for his best friend before Finn notices the second source of light filling his room as well; the full moon outside, huge and seemingly keeping it's like on for Comet too. Hope is simple in both writing style and its lovely illustrations, but still packs an emotional impact with its message to children that you must always have hope - find your light - even in the darkest of times. Of special note, I absolutely loved the relationship shown between Finn and his father; often in such stories it's the mother who presides as the main parental figure there to help the child, if the father is even around at all. Here, the father-son relationship was a genuine cherry on top of a very tasty sundae. Truly charming, with a powerful, positive message that shines through via terrific writing and art.  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: MAMMA MIA! 1. JUST THE GIRLS - Lewis Trondheim (writer), Obion (illustrator)

This short graphic novel, with artwork worthy of an animated series, follows a single French mother named Aurelie and her little girl Emma, both of whom move back in with Aurelie's grandma Marie until Aurelie can find a steady job and get back on her feet. An agreeable temporary situation, as all the ladies get along ... until moving-in day, when Aurelie's "free spirit" of a mom Sophie shows up also needing a place to stay, Marie unable to say little more than okay to her own daughter - and suddenly four generations of women, all very different from each other, must learn to share conversations and meals and even adventures together, if they don't kill each other first! I just loved this characters - the sarcastic, irascible but lovable Marie (think Sophia from "The Golden Girls"), naive and upbeat Aurelie, too-smart-for-her-own-good Emma (along with Kim, Emma's best doll and best friend) .... all of whom clash wonderfully, laughably, with the man-crazy Sophie whose head remains stuck forever in the 1970's. Beautifully drawn - again, in a manner befitting television animation as much as a too-brief graphic novel - I can only hope that the "1" in the book's title means there are more volumes in the series to come, because I could hang out with these ladies forever!  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: LOCK EVERY DOOR - Riley Sager

This was my first Riley Sager novel, but when Lock Every Door came across my radar sounding like Rosemary's Baby directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was a done deal to read it. In his third thriller, we find Sager's main character, Jules, a kindhearted young woman with a lot of baggage (an older sister who disappeared eight years back, no parents, the recent breakup of a relationship with a cheating boyfriend), who's interviewing for an amazing short-term job as an apartment sitter at one of the oldest, most prestigious addresses in Manhattan: The Bartholomew, a twelve-story obelisk overlooking Central Park where the very rich and very private lead their lives out of the public eye. Jules is doing a tour of (and interview for) apartment 12A at the top of the building, a three-month gig that will net her twelve thousand dollars cash. Yes, there are some strange rules to follow - no guests, no staying a single night outside the apartment, don't bother the residents - but those are mostly for the protection of the very private Bartholomew residents, anyway. The apartment itself is two stories of decadent beauty (even if that blood-red wallpaper is a bit sinister), with a view of Central Park and the city few in her income level ever see, so Jules is ecstatic to get the job and moves right in, meeting another apartment sitter named Ingrid and brushing up against a few of the residents her first day. But almost immediately a few strange occurrences and creepy vibe to the building starts to make Jules feel like something's not quite right here. And when a suddenly timid, seemingly-frightened Ingrid vanishes from the building overnight, not answering calls or texts, Jules doesn't buy the story that the girl just decided to leave because the job wasn't for her, and starts digging into the colorful, sometimes violent history of the building - in this case, perhaps not the smartest thing to do. For the first third of the book or so, there were times when I found Jules a bit too naive, thinking "Man, hasn't she ever seen a horror movie? Why would she just do that?" But then, even before the halfway point, the book yanks you in by the short hairs and won't let go anymore; seriously, I soon came to learn that every time I had to put the book down it stayed with me anyway, pulling me back like a magnet to read more even as I tried figuring out in my own head what exactly the hell might be going on along with Jules. And when you think you have got it all figured out, suspense building to a choke-hold as you stick by Jules to learn her fate - the book takes a hard right turn with a twist that you won't see coming, turning The Bartholomew's story darker than ever. Been a long, long time since any book - even one labeled a thriller - grabbed me by the cajones like this one.  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. 

June Wrap-Up: Slight Summer Slump/Quality Up

Lots going on in June, leading to a slow-down in the reading - though the quality definitely went up as the month went on, and considering it's only July 1st and I've already started the new month with Riley Sager's newest - Lock Every Door - am crossing my fingers the quality remains high (as always, click on any image to enlarge).

Overall the crop of films watched in June improved, as well; while my much anticipated Always Be My Maybe was just slightly disappointing, as someone who can't stand Adam Sandler I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Murder Mystery (reviews to come on both; please check back). As always, Netflix remains a mixed bag.

Still have to fill in a few May reviews before tackling June; again, please check back at your leisure for them (as well as new posts) and may your summer reading take you to worlds far beyond the beach!