Reading: BARK IF IT'S MURDER - V.M. Burns

Lilly Ann Echosby is still trying to settle into life in Chattanooga with her beloved poodle Aggie in book three of Burns's Dog Club cozy mystery series. Still residing in a hotel room, Lilly's finally found a home she wants and puts in an offer, just in time to be invited by her museum-owner boss as a last-minute replacement on a buying trip to Atlanta. With no wish to burden her best friend Dixie, and her boyfriend Red busy with work, Lilly warily decides to board Aggie at Pet Haven - a lush spa and boarding home-away-from-home for canines - after meeting married owners Kerri Lynn and Dallas Simpson at a dog show. Pet Haven is dog luxury at its finest, the prices reflecting it, and upon learning that part of the benefits are that Lilly can check on Aggie anytime via a "pet cam," from the road or her hotel, Lilly signs her beloved fur baby up, leaving town with only slight reservations ... until from the comfort of her hotel room in Atlanta, during a storm, when she's checking on Aggie via her laptop. All is well with her little one, but when the cameras go wonky Lilly's point of view is shifted to a different camera - just in time for her to see a blond woman in rain gear strangled on-camera, before the power in her room goes out and the screen goes black. The rest of this short, tightly-plotted mystery revolves around whether or not Lilly Ann actually saw a murder committed, or even if she did, is she accurate in who both victim or even killer are? Every one from her best friend Dixie to her friends at dog training class to her son David, boyfriend Red, and daughter's boyfriend, K-9 officer Joe - currently in town on business - is on hand to lend their expertise/help, but as Lilly continues to question both herself and those suspected, Bark If It's Murder follows a very straightforward, linear course to a satisfying resolution ... and even manages to throw a surprise or two in, at the end. A short, to-the-point plotline moves things swiftly, and in Lilly Ann V.M. Burns has created an engaging, kindhearted, passionate woman who puts those she loves ahead of her - and doing what's right above all else. I look forward to reading more of her!  3.5/5 stars

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

Reading: THE TURN OF THE KEY - Ruth Ware

Twenty-something nanny Rowan Caine hadn't even been looking for a new job when she came across the ad seeking a live-in nanny for a well-to-do family in Scotland. Applying out of curiosity, Rowan finds herself no less than astounded to suddenly be standing, weeks later, in the entry hall of Heatherbrae House, way out in the desolate Scottish Highlands, for her in-person interview with mother Sandra Elincourt. The home itself - an odd juxtaposition of half Victorian architecture forcibly conjoined with modernized technology by Sandra's absentee husband Bill, turning the house into its own app-run "smart home" - is beautiful yet oddly unsettling at the same time, as are the rumors that the reason the last four nannies either fled or left their posts with no notice is because the house is haunted. Rowan is too sensible to believe in ghosts, the pay is ridiculously good, and she seems to mesh well with the children - eight-year-old Maddie, Ellie who's five, and infant Petra - right off, so is nothing less than thrilled when, a few weeks later, she lands the job and permanently moves into Heatherbrae House with the help of the hunky handyman staying above the defunct stables. But almost soon as she's installed upstairs, Sandra and Bill leave town on business and the children start to show very different sides to themselves than they displayed the night Rowan met them. Worse, each night Rowan is now kept awake by the distinct sounds of someone pacing upstairs, the floorboards creaking to a rhythm Rowan is soon will surely drive her mad. The problem? Rowan's room is on the top floor of Heatherbrae House, with no attic and just the tiled roof of the house above her; there is no room above her for anyone to be pacing in. Over the next several days the strange incidents will only increase in the house, Rowan seeking to connect with the children even as she leans more and more about Heatherbrae House's sinister history, and grows increasingly alarmed for her own safety, as well as that of the children. The Turn of the Key is Ruth Ware's fifth novel - though my introduction to her work - and opens with Rowan in prison for murder, one of the children (we don't know who) dead, the novel told in letters she's desperately writing to a high-profile attorney Rowan is hoping will take on her case. And while for me there were times when the story kind of bogged down in the middle third of the novel, with not a lot going on (though Rowan's growing paranoia does keep the suspense building, in a passive sort of way), the last third of the novel ... particularly the last few pages of the book, where the loose ends of the story are tied up in a manner that literally had made my jaw drop open and my chest hurt ... are some of the best, most perfectly/deceptively simple writing I've ever read; even guessing what was coming a couple pages prior, finishing the novel just left me sitting there stunned, as if one of the fuses in my head had blown and I had to wait for some back-up generator to kick on. A four-star book, just because of the slight lagging in the middle, easily bumped up a half-star by that unexpected, haunting, brain-slayer of an ending.  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: OUR BIG LITTLE PLACE - James A. Conan (writer), Nicolle Lalonde (illustrator)

Author James Conan's debut is a wonderful, lovingly illustrated picture book aimed at what you can do with a little effort and a big imagination. It focuses on an unnamed, biracial pre-school-aged boy who lives in a high-rise apartment in a big city, where his parents often comment on how small their apartment is, even as their young son disagrees. Though the balcony views of not just the world around him but the buildings and apartments of his friends nearby are enough for our boy to dream, he also recounts for us readers the various games he plays in the apartment, as well as outside in the yard between the buildings with his many friends (even to relay-racing in the halls outside his actual apartment), that prove his "big" his world really is. Drawing Aunt Elizabeth, who watches him by day as his parents work, or his parents into his games around the house only opens the door to even more adventure, especially on days when it's raining outside and outdoor play isn't practical. Each page of Our Big Little Place is crowded with the young boy's games and imagination, sure to catch the attention and awe of any child exploring the book, and - even more importantly - the diversity represented in this novel, from the boy's interracial parents to one of his friends who gets around via wheelchair to a female-female couple (and other mixed-race pairings) representing the neighbors who gather in the play area outdoors to watch the kid or their dogs, is not only uplifting but also makes for the one picture book I've ever seen to depict the real world of the child protagonist of the story the way it would be/should be, in reality. Charming and colorful, it's the kind of picture book kids (especially "city kids") will come back to again and again, fueling their own imaginations while also preparing them for the fact that people come in all shapes, colors, sizes and lifestyles - but we're still all just people in the end, everyone a potential friend.  4/5 stars

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

Reading: BIG NATE: HUG IT OUT! - Lincoln Peirce

The latest collection of Big Nate comics from author/artist Lincoln Peirce contains - for this reviewer - some of the funniest, most sarcastic moments of the mouthy six-grader's entire career. Unfortunately, the new school year seems determined to grate on Nate's nerves; from annoyingly gabby friends, to a high-scoring rival at the arcade, to having to be tutored by his arch-enemy Gina in order to avoid summer school, to being beaned on the baseball field, to ... gasp! - Cupid striking hard as Nate shares a ride with a girl at a carnival he develops an instant crush on, only to lose her in the crowd afterward without so much as getting her name! Nate certainly could use a hug, and Peirce's sense of humor here, along with Nate's big mouth, are sharp as a razor on nearly every page, while - even with his super-sized personality and ego - Nate still manages to remain one of the funniest, most likable characters in comics. I laughed at nearly every page, and keep a copy bedside in case I ever need to go to sleep with a smile. Keep it up, Nate; in real life you'd probably be a brat in need of a good spanking, but between the pages you are freaking hilarious.  4.5/stars

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

Reading: AQUAMAN VOL. 1: UNSPOKEN WATER - Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Robson Rocha (illustrator)

Following the events of Drowned Earth, this graphic novel combining Aquaman comics #43-47 opens with the hero of the sea washing ashore of the strange community of Unspoken Water - a small village of older adults barely surviving via what they can catch in their fishing nets - with absolutely no memory of who he is, or his past. Donned with the nickname "Andy" by the villagers, Arthur Curry - the Lord of Atlantis - befriends a young woman named Caille who seems obsessed with the sea, otherwise seeking help from the villagers to find out who he is and why he's there (the villagers are sure the sea gave him to them for a reason) ... while at the same time there seems something hidden, almost wrong, with the very people Andy is trying to befriend. Remaining spoiler-free, that's about as much as can be said here ... except that Unspoken Water just might be the most sumptuous, beautifully-illustrated graphic novel this reader has ever read. DeConnick's story, as well, doesn't miss a trick, the mystery of the village and what's really going on building suspense perfectly - as well as playing in a big way into the mythology of Aquaman and his history - before an enemy comes forward and some pretty hard battle lines are drawn (and fought). The strong story and characters only help the reader buy into what's going on, emotional investment in the characters guaranteed - but truly, beautifully, nearly every page of this lush graphic novel is a sensational work or art, doing Arthur Curry's alter ego total justice; whenever water/the sea appears on the page, it's as if it's a separate character of its own, fully come to live. I can't even remember how many times I must have said "Wow" under my breath, turning the pages of this gem, and with a brilliant story and plenty of action and a major super-villain to back it up, Aquaman Vol. 1: Unspoken Water may well be the best DC graphic novel I've ever read.  5/5 stars

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

Reading: DISNEY MANGA: PIXAR'S TOY STORY, SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION - Tetsuhiro Koshita

TokyoPop continues its line of Pixar-inspired manga with this terrific double-bill featuring the basic storylines of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, back-to-back in one volume. The black-and-white artwork leaps off the page, characters rendered perfectly from the films, as we are again introduced to Woody and company, and the day Woody meets Buzz Lightyear, his first rival for Andy's sole attention - and the follow-up tale, which begins when Woody is swiped by a rabid toy collector who wants to add him to his collection. Over 300 pages and I read the entire thing in two sittings (would have been one, but got interrupted), not only reliving the films but also almost wishing, multiple times throughout both stories, that I had a big box of crayons to sit and color in each page as I read it; that's how vibrant and alive and ... cinematic the artwork is to the eye. Whether for a kid new to manga who isn't a big reader otherwise, to a big kid who loves the Toy Story films and would like to take the journey of the first two again in book form. there's nothing not to like about these brilliant renditions of two of the most popular and beloved animated films in pop culture history. Highly recommended.  5/5 stars

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

Reading: SPARROWHAWK - Delilah Dawson (writer), Matias Basla (illustrator), MIguel Mercado (cover artist)

Northunberland, England, 1851. Artemisia is a bi-racial young woman, the illegitimate daughter of a naval captain living with her father's upper class family but enjoying none of its perks or stature because she is half-black. Indeed, with a mostly-absentee father and bigoted stepmother, the girl's only solace is her stepsister. But when an evil  Faerie Queen from another realm tricks Artemisia into trading places with her so she can conquer this realm, the young woman finds herself in an ugly, brutal land of dark magic and monsters, some of whom may help her get out while hiding their darker motives on the side. In order to escape, Artemisia must literally kill her way to enough strength and power to break through the mirror she must use to get back home - the catch being that with every death she causes, Artemisia enjoys the art of killing more and more, turning more violent and even transforming piece by piece into a metallic-like creature with wings after each kill. While I thought the premise interesting enough to give this graphic novel a go, what really sucked me in was the intense, beautiful cover art of the book. Sad to say, the inside art is nowhere near as dramatic or provocative; indeed, the alternate world our heroine finds herself in is all hard lines and harsh colors, as if a paintbox were spill on the original drawings. Sadly, I also couldn't identify or really care about any of the characters, including Artemisia herself. While I understood the corruptive effect this alternate world had on the poor girl throughout the story, with each change I found myself disliking/not caring about the character a little more. An "okay" script and unattractive artwork, even with a gorgeous cover wrapped around it, just made for a disappointing read.  1/5 stars

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

Book vs. Kindle: Okay, We Can Stop Now

To this day, with all the book-chat I find myself reading or engaging in online (particularly social media), I am still (though don't know why) surprised and a bit annoyed when someone brings up the Kindle - or Nook, or e-reader in general - like it's some evil harbinger of doom determined to bring about Armageddon for the printed book ever since Oprah introduced the world to it years ago. Each time I hear this argument I am reminded of my mother, even many more years ago, who wouldn't touch the first microwave oven (about the size and weight of an air conditioner) brought into our home by my father, because she was sure it would give her cancer.

I've been reading since childhood, say 150 years or so now, and even as fascinated as I was, watching Oprah unveil Kindle to the world on one of her Christmastime "My Favorite Things" shows back in the day - newspaper and magazine subscriptions at your fingertips in seconds? you can finish the first book in a series and be reading the second one a minute later?? - to me Kindle potentially signaled the death knell of my beloved bound books as well, and it would take a few years (plus over a year of debate and research, trying to decide between Kindle and Nook) to finally invest in one. Now, maybe ... nine years later? ... I own three Kindles 9with somewhere around 2,000 books stored on them. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ahh, but here's the kicker - and what most people still treating e-readers like leprosy don't seem to understand: YOU CAN STILL READ REAL BOOKS. Yes, that's right, you can have BOTH in your life, and quite frankly most e-reader owners do! Unlike what many Kindle haters suggest, you do not have to choose between them; like children, you can love both equally. And I won't go into all the conveniences/advantages of owning a Kindle, because most people know them already and doing so usually sends Kindle haters into fits.

But I wanted to do this post to share something I recently learned. First, I have never, ever thought books were in danger of extinction because of e-readers. That's simply not true, and while my heart breaks for every brick-and-mortar store that's closed up, hard-copy books still sell like crazy and independent bookstores are enjoying a resurgence. So no, no matter what the witch hunters shout, THE BOOK is never going to be threatened by e-readers.

What I wanted to share is that quite recently I learned - by accident - a very important reason why. 

The obvious reasons to love a real book, of course, are known to any book lover: the heft of holding a real book, the smell of a new book (is there ANYTHING like it in the world?!), the opportunity to lose yourself in the tranquility of your favorite bookstore - even being able to annotate or take notes right there in the margins (though you can do this with Kindle in digital form, many people LIKE the intimacy of note-taking, etc. in their beloved book). But as I recently have begun to pick up hard-copy books again, as well as reading on Kindle, I am reminded of how since childhood, whenever I put my bookmark in after reading for the day, I would also check out the part of the bookmark sticking out of the top, turning the book this way and that and noting with pride that heck yeah, I made progress today. Can't do that with Kindle (you can bookmark your page, but obviously no visual). 

Even more importantly, I realized that with Kindle, the simple fact is that every book you read looks exactly the same. Assuming you have the font size/style set to what you like, every single book you read on Kindle (and when I say Kindle in this post, I mean any e-reader) looks exactly like every other single book you have on Kindle. No variety, like you get with real books, where you might read a 300-page book now but then a 550-page chunker after that, the margins and font style/size varying, hitting home the fact that book's an all-new reading experience. Maybe it's me, but I found that's what I miss right now with Kindle books over hard-copy ones: the variety. The feel that, each time I finish a book, that adventure is over and I am setting sail on a new adventure ... as opposed to just swiping to another page that looks exactly like the last 3,000 pages I read.

So no, real books aren't going anywhere. And the Kindle haters need to stop hating as hard as they do when they even bring up the subject. To me, we bookaholics should always be celebrating reading, period, no matter in what form someone is doing it. Especially here in the U.S., where so many don't even read a book a year, and illiteracy remains an issue. Bottom line: you do you, long as you keep reading - share that love of reading with anyone around you who will listen (kids/young people especially) - and never criticize someone for what they are reading (or how they're reading it) so much as praise them for taking that adventure.

July Wrap-Up: Closing in on 10K!

Some genuinely good reading for July, including three novels that debuted just this month (reviews for these get priority, as they are time-sensitive, but you can always check back for more content). Eight books logged for July,though two were children's books easy to breeze through in a day (both very good), as I also continue to become more and more enamored with manga and especially graphic novels; truly, volume one of Lumberjanes Vol. 1 was one of the most fun reading experiences I've had in some time, Mamma Mia! full of both charm and genuinely funny. As always, click on any image in the post to enlarge.

Only one film for the month, the low-budget horror film Slice! starring Chance Bennett - aka Chance the Rapper - so reading definitely took precedent for the month, when the time was there, and am actually glad for it though continue to battle time management issues I need to work on (such as curbing all the scrolling I do through Facebook and YouTube!).

Most of all, am so, so grateful to be fast approaching 10,000 pageviews for this blog! Since starting it there have been time periods when I didn't even post, thinking my voice was too small to be heard; so much so, I never really thought to add an option to follow my posts via email (only added that very recently). But 10K pageviews is pretty cool, inspiring me to go for 10K more.

Meanwhile, hope your summer winds up warm and sunny and full of great summer reading, whether at the beach or curled up in bed or on the front porch with a glass of wine. And thanks for visiting here, fellow film lovers and bookaholics; please continue to help spread the news if you like what you read, and I promise: WILL CATCH UP ON REVIEWS THIS MONTH, at last!