Reading: HONEY ROASTED - Cleo Coyle

1st Line: " 'Well, what do we have here?' "

Review: Especially as they are set in New York City - which will always have my heart - I have always wanted to try Cleo Coyle's "Coffeehouse Mystery" series. Though the newest, volume nineteen, might not have been the ideal place to start, I was intrigued by the premise when I got my hands on a copy.

Clare Cosi, who runs the Village Blend in Manhattan, is trying to balance her personal life (finding the ideal honeymoon spot for herself and soon-to-be-hubby, Detective Mike Quinn) along with her work (including test-driving her new Honey-Cinnamon Latte), when that very evening her coffeehouse is besieged by a swarm of exotic bees. After tracing their origin back to the penthouse home of none other than "Queen" Bea Hastings - close friend of Madame, Clare's mentor and owner of Village Blend - Clare and her ex discover Bea herself, hurt and unconscious after taking a fall from her rooftop hive. Was she pushed? The cops find "evidence" of an attempted suicide that Clare doesn't believe for a minute. But with the iconic beekeeper still out of commission in her hospital bed, fighting to survive, Clare must track down the old lady's attacker among a shifty chef, a fellow urban beekeeper seemingly not above stealing Bea's formula for success, and a lot more, all while trying to help Mike solve a string of murders ... and find out why, suddenly, he seems to have grown cold about their wedding plans.

Honey Roasted is well-written, with a gutsy heroine and a strong cast of supporting characters; Clare's continued frenemy-ship with her ex-husband - whom she will always remain connected to, via the coffeehouse - is particularly engaging. But in all honesty, this book took me longer to read than the majority of cozy mysteries I enjoy, and part of that is because of the incredible amount of research and factoids and information about bees, beekeeping, and honey (and all connected to it) that shows the author (actually a couple) did the research - but, for me, came off as way too much exposition and/or info-dumping, slowing the book to a crawl at times and making me not too anxious to pick it up again. Keeping things spoiler-free, I also have to admit that the crime/mystery wasn't very impactful for me either, it's very "vanilla" and sorry I can't say more - which meant the ultimate stake in solving it wasn't vital enough to keep me turning pages.

At 360 pages, it just felt too long and bloated, even sometimes ignoring the crime element of the book in favor of Clare and Mike's relationship issues. So while certainly well-written and meticulously researched, I'm thinking maybe this is just not the series for me?  2/5 stars

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

Reading: SIGGY THE SOCCER DOG - Brian Frederick (author), Vivien Sárkány (illustrator)

1st Line: "Sigmund the dachshund lived in the little hamlet of Hope in the English county of Somerset."

Review: Siggy's young owner finds her dog napping in his bed, twisting and turning in the midst of a dream. A dream, it turns out, where Siggy is the star player on the Manchester United team! What plays out then, in this fun and action-packed picture book, is how Siggy and his team (all made up of different breeds of dogs) work together to win the championship game, with Siggy leading the pack! Kids who love sports or more active stories will love this especially, with full-color illustrations that are all over the page as the game gets closer and closer to its finish, Sarkany's stylishly exaggerated renderings of the dog players on both teams only adding to the feel of speed and movement to the story. Part of a series of picture books about Siggy, and even at my age will be checking out more!  4/5 stars

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

Reading: THE IDHUN CHRONICLES VOL. 1: THE RESISTANCE - SEARCH - Laura Gallego & Andres Carrion Moratinos (authors), Studio Fenix (illustrator)

1st Line: "I've had this sense of foreboding all day."

Review: This is a review of the graphic novel - haven't watched the Netflix anime series yet - and the story itself is about Jack, a young boy from Earth whose parents are killed by an assassin (creature?) from another dimension, who himself is about to dispatch of Jack in the same way before the boy is rescued in the nick of time, taken away by a pair of young rebels and hidden away from harm in another realm. In time, Jack realizes he is caught in the middle of a war over Idhun, a magical world under threat of being taken over by some very, very bad guys, and though hotheaded and quick to act emotionally, Jack undergoes training to help the fight, everyone secure in the knowledge that there is something within Jack that may be the key to winning the war. 

The art is really nice here, but rarely have I read a graphic word so overpopulated with text, it actually overshadows the art. Sadly, the plot here is almost all tell and no show, past conflicts depicted in a panel or two if that, otherwise told by one character to another in huge passages of dialogue that bring both story and interest to a crawl. At only about 120 pages the book seems twice as long to slog through with all the dialogue (the book could have easily been longer, depicting conflict via art instead of text, and it would have been a much more exciting read), and by the end of the book it was disappointing to realize I was relieved to be done more than anything else. Hopefully the anime actually plays out most of the action on-screen, so will give it a go, but the graphic novel was a disappointing bust for me.  1.5/5 stars

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

Reading: GALLANT - V. E. SCHWAB

1st Line: "The master of the house stands at the garden wall."

Review: A rebellious young orphaned girl named Olivia, who cannot speak and has the ability to see partially-formed ghosts, lives at the Merilance School for Girls (pretty much a rundown orphanage), her mother's journal (a complex book of writings and drawings essentially chronicling her mom's descent into madness) her only connection to the past. She's bullied by the nastier girls - though stands up for herself and gets her revenge in her own way - and in general has a tough go at the school until a letter arrives from her uncle, telling Olivia she has a family awaiting her, and a place at their home, named Gallant. A home - a family - a connection to others and the hopes of find out more about what happened to her mother and father, it's all Olivia's ever wanted, so though her mother's journal outright warns the young girl to stay away from Gallant, when the school sends her off Olivia is eager to learn of her new family and life.

Things don't go well from the start; Olivia arrives to find her uncle has passed away, and his son - her cousin Matthew, not that much older than Olivia - wants her gone. But a pair of older servants remind their young master that they can't send Olivia away after dark (cue creepy music in the background), and Olivia ends up hanging around the big, cold, decrepit Gallant the next few days, during which she discovers, beyond the garden, a large stretch of broken-down garden wall, complete with a gate, that no one in the house seems to want to talk about. With good reason, as it turns out, when Olivia ends up beyond the crumbling wall ... to find an alternate version of Gallant, dark and sinister and with a very different master, who has his own plans for Olivia. 

Though I have several of her novels, this was my first time reading V. E. Schwab and Gallant definitely has its moments; true to al I'd read and heard, Schwab's characters and writing style draw you in with atmosphere and suspense. Olivia is a sympathetic heroine with heart, and you want her to find answers even though they might not be good ones, and the alternate Gallant is beautifully envisioned and downright creepy. Yet through it all, I couldn't connect as much as I wanted with the characters, and at times the writing came off a little florid or over-done. Also, the ending felt a bit hurried, things resolved way too quickly/easily compared to the set-up, and overall - with as much YA as I've read - this is the first time I felt a YA novel I was reading was "written down" to or for a younger audience, which was a distraction. So, good enough that I look forward to reading more of Schwab's work, but overall this was a hit or miss for me.  3/5 stars

Reading: HARLEM PART 1 - Mikaël

1st Line: " 'With you, everythng is like the Model T.' my grandma would say."

Review: This gritty, engrossing graphic novel, set in Harlem in 1931, centers around Queenie, a French Antilles immigrant who's been running a lottery for over a decade that's made her into somewhat of a local legend ... and boss. A strong, intelligent woman determined to hang onto her own neighborhood, Queenie's story is one of everyday survival; never more than when, with Prohibition on its way out, up-and-coming gangster Dutch Schultz seeks to diversify both his business and hold over New York City, his harsh gaze falling to Harlem and the one thing standing in his way of acquisition: Queenie. This is only volume one, but after a bit of a slow start Queenie and the residents of Harlem - not to mention the neigborhood itself - blaze to life on the page, whether in the machinations of friends turned to enemies, steamy/forbidden sex, or the violence that explodes on the streets by way of showing who's in control. Dark in tone and with more depth than expected for a short graphic novel, the unfolding of Harlem in the wake of its birth is enthralling - and makes for a bloody good read.  4/5 stars

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

Reading: THE PARIS APARTMENT - Lucy Foley

1st Line: "His fingers hover over the keyboard."

Review: After that ending to The Guest List, little could keep me away from Lucy Foley's next book - and starting right off on the creepy/claustrophobic side, The Paris Apartment opens with a young woman named Jess, newly-arrived in Paris from England, who's escaping from both life in London and the not-so-brilliant circumstances under which she left her last bartending job. She's shown up at the Paris apartment house of her older half-brother Ben, contacting him on very short notice so he couldn't exactly turn her away, and upon her arrival Jess feels something's more than a bit wrong. For one, Ben doesn't answer her attempts to enter the building gate, not her texts or calls. Then the tenant she does manage to sneak in behind anyway comes off even more creepy than the dark, foreboding four-story apartment building itself. Worse, when she finally makes her way to Ben's apartment on the third floor (it's just one apartment per floor), Jess soon learns that Ben is missing - and the more she digs into the situation, his neighbors, and Ben's too-quiet apartment itself, the more she realizes that something very, very bad might have happened to her half-brother ... and she might be next. Foley is an expert at creating super-creepy atmosphere, which was crawling up my neck by page 10, and though sometimes you may want to yell, "Woman, what are you DOING?" to Jess as she seemingly puts herself in harm's way, that's also a sign of caring enough about the character to feel that way at all, right? The other building tenants have their own secrets to hide - and, in some cases, will go to extraordinary lengths to hide them - and yes, the plot builds into one big twist I didn't see coming, partway through, that made the book, at least for me, hard to put down from then on. Though I was able to guess the end "twist" a bit early, and the finale itself comes off maybe a tiny big anti-climactic at first, it's a satisfying ending that, overall, makes this one a bit stronger, I think, than The Guest List. Shut your brain off for a bit, and just enjoy this suspenseful, more complex-than-expected thrill ride that's as fun as a rollercoaster, with nearly as many curves.  4/5 stars

Reading: DISNEY MANGA: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - THE BEAST'S TALE (FULL COLOR EDITION) - Mallory Reaves (author), Studio Dice/Gabriella Sinopoli (illustrator)

1st Line: "Once upon a time, in the hidden heart of France ... "

Review: Disney Manga's re-release of full-color versions of their retellings of Beauty and the Beast (based on the 2017 live-action film version) continues with this volume, told from the viewpoint of The Beast himself (volume one, as told through Belle's eyes, is also reviewed on this blog; just scroll down a bit). Whereas Belle's version was told with bright colors and optimism overall, beginning with her life in her quiet village with books as her favorite companions, this version starts with The Beast's decadent lifestyle and cruel rule as a monarch ... right up until he's punished for his vanity and bitterness by being turned into a beast for all eternity, once the magical rose loses its petals, unless he can find true love. Though both books are great and need to be bought/read as companion volumes, I preferred The Beast's tale, told in dark blues and blacks befitting his own mindset and temper ... even as Belle arrives and slowly but surely brings out the human in him again. As even the film put viewers more into Belle's line of vision/viewpoint, here it was really nice strictly seeing what unfolds solely through the eyes of the jaded, forlorn beast, up to the very end when ... well, you know what happens. Both book are bursting with color and life, telling this timeless and (for many) most favorite of love stories, but The Beast's pain and subsequent redemption resonated more with me - hence the extra half-star, much as I enjoy both books.  4/5 stars

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

Reading: DISNEY MANGA: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - BELLE'S TALE (FULL COLOR EDITION) - Mallory Reaves (author), Studio Dice/Gabriella Sinopoli (illustrator)

1st Line: "Once upon a time, in the beautiful city of Paris ... "

Review: Disney Manga has re-released these two ediitions of Beauty and the Beast - one told from Belle's viewpoint, the other through the Beast's eyes - both based on the live-action film version from 2017. A smart move, as even the color scheme of each book differs depending on the character, and either way the images really pop like art from the page.This is Belle's tale, and in it you get the same essential classic story of the young book-loving girl who sets out to find her missing father before finding herself trapped in an enchanted castle, and here whether it's Belle's feelings on her father or her village, Gaston, or the Beast himself, readers are provided more depth into both her character and thoughts. It adds depth to the story, and works very well in manga form. Though I did like the Beast's version a bit better (scroll up for review), both are colorful, exciting takes to both characters and their love story - Belle's more introspective and quiet, the Beast's more aggressive and gruff - and together provide an even mre insightful tale as old as time than previously depicted.  3.5/5 stars

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

Reading: THE TRANSCENDENT ONE-SIDED LOVE OF YOSHIDA THE CATCH VOL. 1 - Shizuki Fujisawa

1st Line: " 'Oh ... it's Yoshida-san, from the planning department!' "

Review: Yoshida is a young, very handsome business executive by day, very intelligent and successful in his job, his all-business aloofness adding to his mystique that sees so many women in his office crushing on him. Cool, sophisticated, Yoshida has his you-know-what together ... untiil after work, when he heads over to a tiny office where a crew of artists struggle with weekly deadlines to put out the latest issue of their manga, under the direction of the manga's creator and writer, the beautiful and super-focused workaholic Sena Shimakaze. Here, Yoshida - know as Chief - tries to hold the crew and weekly publication together even as he internally struggles with his own love for Sena; they've known each other since school, and he's been completely in love with her nearly all that time. Here, Yoshida's cool, together side frazzles and frays as he works hard to help Sena's manga - a publishing business he helped her to start - a success, while still unable to reveal his true feelings for her after all this time. Even the small office staff is Team Chief, recognizing his devotion and love for their boss and trying to hep bring them together but the problem is that Sensei (Sena) is so wrapped up in her work and business (plus, honestly, she's a scatterbrain), in all these years she is still not only a grown woman clueless to things like dating and finding a partner - but in all this time, she's never even once realized how incredibly ga-ga Yoshida is for her, which makes his orderly, together life anything but. Volume 1 sets up the situation and characters nicely, both humor and emotions sometimes over-the-top as you can expect with manga, and at times Sena is so darn dense as to what is going on around her - even when her entire staff is all but shoving the hapless, helpless Yoshida in her face - that you could all but smack her, but the humor is charming here, and poor Yoshida's struggle to make the love of his life see the light - and him - make for the pulling of a few heartstrings until Volume 2 comes along.  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: DEADLY DIRECTOR'S CUT - Vicki Delany

1st Line: " 'LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION!' "

Review: Book two of the prolific Delany's 1950s-set Catskill Summer Resort mystery series finds Haggerman's Hotel manager Elizabeth Grady's resort up to its armpits in drama. Multi-Academy Award-winning director Elias Theropodous has chosen to film a few key scenes of his latest masterpiece in the Catskills, and Haggerman's finds itself swarmed with actors, crew, tourists, ovely-curious guests - even hotel staff who'd rather watch a potential Oscar-winner being filmed over doing theirr jobs. Add to this the local sheriff and a small battalion of reporters from around the country, after the irascible, sexist and overbearing director has what appears to be a heart attack during a hotel event, and is reported DOA at the hospital, poisoned. With the safety level of her resort (not to mention kitchen) under attack, Elizabeth wastes no time in wading into the fray of hidden motives, scandalous backstories, and the questionable morals of movie industry types - most of whom seem to have had at least some gripe with the deceased director. 

Delany, one of my favorite cozy mystery writers, here yet again shows off her skills at introducing and handling a rather large, active cast of characters - on all sides of the law - without confusing the narrative or reader. The mystery kept me guessing, thanks also to the author's ability to deflectt blame toward this character one minute, then on another the next, and though I haven't read the first book in this series yet - Deadly Summer Nights - I was also very pleased to get the impression here that we learned a bit more about Elizabeth's past, as well as that of her aunt and mother (who also live at Haggerman's), bringing more depth to those characters. And while at first I felt the revelation of the killer to be a bit anti-climactic, as the explanation behind the motive and means continued, the reveal took on a sense of poignancy that was both unexpected and appreciated. Any complaint here would be nit-picking - I would liked to have gotten more than the occasional reminder or sense of the 1950s setting; I just didn't feel it as much, in general, while reading - but as always with Vicki Delany, this is a well-written, very entertaining mystery with a vivid setting, and characters I look forward to revisiting again and again, in book one and beyond. (Available March 1)  4/5 stars

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

Reading: CHEF'S KISS - Jarrett Melendez (author), Danica Brine (illustrator), Hank Jones (colorist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer)

1st Line: " 'Four years of college move-in days, you'd think I'd seen everything.' "

Review: Newly-graduated from college with his English degree, Ben Cook has moved into a house with three friends/roommates, and is officially ready to begin his journalism career. Only problem is, without experience no one will hire him. Even with his friends trying their best to keep his spirits up, a downtrodden Ben is at his lowest when he stumbles one day upon a small upscale restaurant with a "Help Wanted - No Experience Necessary" sign on the door. Between his love of cooking and need to keep the rent paid, Ben hurries in to apply ... running into Liam, a tall, Nordic-looking hunk with a warm smile and friendly manner who is more than happy to give Ben a chance at the job, though it's the bigger, louder, not-so-friendly owner who informs Ben of the three challenges he must face to secure the position - before introducing Ben to the pig who will judge his fate (yes, you read that right).

Can Ben pass the tests? Can Ben keep his heart from leaping out of his chest every time he gets within ten feet of Liam? And how does one cook for a finicky pig? Chef's Kiss answers all of this and more in a charming, off-beat, frothy and funny m/m romance that also has some great things to say about following your dreams - and your dreams, as opposed to those of others. The artwork is equally sweet, characters believable and very easy to like, and (thankfully) the romance isn't in any rush to bloom, but grows naturally from the story; it's nice that Ben doesn't spend all his time mooning over Liam, remembering real-world problems and being there for his own friends along the way ... as well as doing his best to win the resaurant job, if not Liam's heart.

No big plot twists - no shocking revelations or super-corny tropes - and this graphic novel is better for it. Like Ben's cooking: all-natural, delicious, and so easy on the palate. Great book; already hoping for a sequel! (Available April 12)  4/5 stars

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

Reading: THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY - Brendan Slocumb

1st Line: "On the morning of the worst, most earth-shattering day of Ray McMillian's life, he ordered room service: scrambled eggs for two, one side of regular bacon (for Nicole), one side of vegan sausage (for him), one coffee (for Nicole), one orange juice (for him)."

Review: Having been fascinated by the violin since childhood - never learned, as I didn't have one to practice with - the title alone suckered me into this incredibly skillful debut; a mystery that begins when the life of a Black violinist, whose career is just beginning to bloom, is shattered when his violin is stolen ... and held for a five-million dollar ransom.

Ray McMillian has spent his life loving - living for - classical music. Taking to the violin at an early age, playing seems to be the one thing that gives him genuine peace and happiness, even over the harsh criticism of his mother to just find a job at the local Popeye's, or the realiation that finding Black musicians in the leading orchestras of the world is more rare than a lottery win. Thankfully, Ray's always had Nana, and the opening of the book takes readers back and forth between the early stages of the investigation of the violin's theft, to how Ray grew up loving music and getting inspired by his grandmother ... and how a young Black man in rural North Carolina came to own a violin worth a five-million dollar ransom in the first place. Writer Brendan Slocumb, a natural storyteller, masterfully weaves Ray's backstory as a kid, who often only had his own dream to keep him going, in with the intense jealousy and bigotry he was forced to face in high school for his talent, to his getting out in the "real world" of college and adulthood, only to find that no matter how much fame or experience or talent he had, so much of life - so much of the struggle - still always boiled down to the color of his skin. Aside from a riveting mystery, what this first novel has to say about racial inequality and hate in this country toward its Black population, particularly Black men, is both powerful and enraging ... and a sickening commentary on how little progress we've made in America by 2022, even for those of us who understood that already. Slocumb's talent and TLC with his tale, however, means that the mystery of the missing violin and Ray's personal story (bat-shit greedy family, devoted grandma who became his rock, the teacher who changed his life, the injustices waged against him just because of his skin color) never ever over-shadow each other - and by the time I caught up with how Ray ended up with a Stradivarius everyone wants a piece of, how it was taken, and Ray's one-man hunt to find out who took it ... I was hooked, roaring through the last hundred pages or so hanging onto the coattails of one of the most believable, sympathetic fictional leading characters I've come across in a very, very long time. 

I still can't believe it's a debut. Also the first title already seto to appear on my Top 10 Reads of 2022 list, come December. A terrific page-turner of a read I still can't stop thinking about.  5/5 stars

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

Reading: SUMMERTIME RENDERING 1 & 2 - Yasuki Tanaka (author), Jocelyn Allen (translator)

1st Line (Vol. 1): "'Hey, Shimpei?'"

1st Line (Vol. 2): "It's so dark ..."

Review: Volumes one and two in the projected six-volume English-language omnibus editions of the hit manga Summertime Rendering (already slated for a live-action adaptation plus a real escape game) opens with our young hero, Shimpei Ajiro, arriving from Tokyo back to his old hometown on the island of Hitogashima for a funeral. Orphaned at a young age, Shimpei grew up with the Kofune family, in particular bonding with the two daughters - Ushio (his own age) and her younger sister Mio. It is Ushio's funeral that has brought Shimpeii back, and he is heartsick over the loss of his close friend and crush from drowning, as he reconnects with Mio and her father and the town residents - but almost right away Shimpei is overwhelmed when he is told that Ushio when found, had marks on her neck, as if strangled, making Shimpei wonder if she drowned, after all. Even worse, Shimpei starts to glimpse Ushio around town in the coming days - a ghost? Warning? - and things grow weirder from there as Shimpei tries to investigate, some of the locals turn more loco, and it becomes obvious that some sinister, deadly, very supernatural forces are about to turn Hitogashima and its residents upside down ... Shimpei squarely in their sights. 

OMG, I loved volume one of this manga so much! Over 350 pages and I careened through it mostly holding my breath, the stakes and violence and gore level growing higher and higher, ratcheting up the suspense up until the very, very climactic ending of volume one at the local Summer Festival. Plot, characterization, art, it's all pure gold here; artist/author Yasuki Tanaka knowing how to tell a story via characters you care about, just before all hell breaks loose and sanity goes out the window.  5/5 stars

Volume 2, picking right up after the events of the Summer Festival, took a tiny bit longer for me to get into with a slower start once the initial action plays out (it's so hard to write these reviews in particular without spoilers, which was why I put the two books into one review), but about a quarter of the way I was hooked again, and even though a manga I tore through all 350+ pages of volume two like my life depended on it, as well - disbelieving, afterward, when I read that four more volumes were to come. I can't IMAGINE the insanity to come, based on what's happened already! Both volumes heartily recommended must-haves for manga, mystery and horror lovers alike.  4.5/5 stars

(Volume 1 due in paperback late May - in hardcover in June, when volume 2 also drops!)

NOTE: I received free ARCs of both titles via Edelweiss and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET - Diane Chamberlain

1st Line: "I'm in the middle of a call with a contractor when Natalie, our new administrative assistant, pokes her head into my office."

Review: Told in dual timelines, Diane Chamberlain's latest begins in 2010 with architect Kayla Carter, a woman still reeling from - and dealing with - the death of her husband, killed in an accident while building the dream home the two of them had planned and worked on together for years. Now that same home - the first finished residence in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new upscale development blossoming in Round Hill, North Carolina - is ready for move-in for both Kayla and her four-year-old daughter ... but Kayla can't decide if her dream house has now become a nightmare, especially when a strange, vaguely threatening woman drops by her office one day, seemingly knowing a bit too much about both Kayla and her tragedy.

Round Hill in 1965, still very much segregated and racist, is the bane of Ellie Hockley's existence when - taking after her deceased favorite aunt - the young activist decides to spend one summer off college by working with a program to help register local Black residents to vote. A young, white girl from a (by comparison) privileged family in town, Ellie's parents, brother - even the boy she may or may not be in love with - are vehemently opposed to the young womans putting herself in potential danger, even as their own prejudices and bigotry rise to the surface. But Ellie remains strong in her convictions of racial equality ... even in klan country, where aything could happen to a young, pretty white girl seemingly turning traitor against her own kind ...

The Last House on the Street is the story of both of these strong women, and how (or even if) their stories might converge in surprising - even shocking - ways. This was my first time reading Diane Chamberlain, after years of hearing so many great things about her work, and while I think I had a stronger connection to Ellie and her story, the book's trips back to 2010 were no less compelling, and 1965 Charmberlain does an intense job of revisiting a volatile, gut-wrenching time in this country's history that - sadly - still resonates today. I had some concerns that the 1965 story was told from the "white" point of view, but Chamberlain gives both Ellie and her story a dignity and earnestness that easily had you watching even the most shocking happen through the young girl's eyes; so much so, by halfway through the book, whenever I had to put it down I found myself constantly wanting to pick iit up again, whenever life intervened. Even if you can kind of guess where you think the ending is going, there are still surprises waiting - making this a compelling, dramatic read that already has me going over Ms. Chamberlain's backlist for more. (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: FUNGUS AND IRON Vol. 1 - Ayaka Katayama

1st Line: "Area D-18 ... that's where this story takes place."

Review: In a dystopian future, Amigasa rules and runs the world. Everything and everyone is sacrrified for the good of Amigasa, even as a resistance bulds to fight against their all-encompassing rule. Even soldiers within the walls of Area D-18 have been conditioned to readily give their lives to Amigasa ... all except the dyslexic Dante, a young soldier who still finds beauty and humor in his walled-in world, has a tendency to laugh in serious situations, and in short is the oddball who has never fit in with everyone else. Never is this more so than when a troop of soldiers is sent out of the walled encslosure of D-18 to fight the resistance - for most of them, including Dante, this is the first time they've ever even seen the world outside their compound - and all of them wind up dead, some even by their own hand, with the exception of Dante ... who finds not only a weird world full of giant mushrooms outside the wall, but also a young woman name Aoi; the first female he has ever seen. This graphic novel has so much crammed into it - mind control, science fiction fungus monsters, environmental messages, first love pangs, and enough violence to give Quentin Tarantino pause ... and yet with all that, I struggled to get through the book, honestly out of sheer boredom. Long patches of story that seems to go nowhere - or even make that much sense - became grating after awhile, and even a semi-cliffhanger ending couldn't propel me to have much interest in moving onto volume two. Some nice art; otherwise, sadly, a dud.  2/5 stars 

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

Reading: GHOULIA AND THE DOOMED MANOR (GHOULIA #4) - Barbara Cantini

1st Line: "One morning, the residents of Crumbling Manor woke to the ringing of the old telephone."

Review: In the fourth (and, it seems final - cue sad music!) volume to this kid's chapter-book series I've have loved from the start (think Wednesday Addams as done by Tim Burton), our beloved zombie gal Ghoulia actually heads off with her family from Crumbling Manor, for a trip to visit her Aunt Witch and cousin Dilbert at their lakeside house, Fancy Manor - a home so crumbling and rundown it in no way fits its name, but is also in such bad shape that the entire family is shocked one day when a For Sale sign is placed at its entrance! It seems the town has assumed the house has been abandoned all these years, and the bank has decided to sell it ... unless a living family member can be found to claim ownership. Problem is, Ghoulia and her entire family are technically - well - dead! As always with the series, this fourth volume is a joy to look at, with darkly-colorful artwork that somehow still comes off warm and charming; brings a smile to the face with each page. Sadly, the story here, though more complex than normal for a Ghoulia story, somehow feels a bit rushed - maybe even strained, as if author Cantini had a bit of trouble coming up with a fresh idea for this one. Still good, and still a great series; I just didn't feel quite the heart with this one as I did with its predecessors. That said, I already miss Ghoulia badly; this was like saying goodbye to an old friend.  3/5 stars 

January Wrap-Up: Slow Start, but One Most-Anticipated Down!

One of my book goals for 2022 is to get to my most-anticipated titles of the year sooner to their release date than later: hence Fiona Davis's The Magnolia Palace (see review), an entertaining fictional story wrapped around fact that had me often stopping my reading to look up images of various artworks mentioned in the book, which really gave the text extra resonance.

Beyond that, I caught up on the adventures of Big Nate and finished the next book in one of my favorite childrens series, The Haunted Library. And while Fearbook Club was a great graphic novel, the rest of January's reading was ... meh, at best. And did the month go fast!

Was well into a few other books that didn't get done by January 31st, but only have eight for the month because I went bat-you-know-what nuts in January with films! Had some streaming services ending that I decided not to renew, so check out the EIGHTEEN FILMS I watched in January below (as always, click on any image to enlarge). No reviews for them yet, - and this may take awhile (big surprise) - but already I feel like I watched more quality films in January than I did in most of 2021; hopefully a good sign.

Hope your 2022 started off well!

Reading: PEACH AND THE ISLE OF MONSTERS - Franco (author), Agnes Garbowska (illustrator)

1st Line: " 'It's not funny!' "

Review: Peach is a brave little girl living in a village that's seen multiple attacks and plundering from monsters - but when she wants to go and fight with warriors chosen from each faction of her village to seek out Monster Isle, she's seen as just a weak girl who could get hurt or killed. But Peach is determined, brave, and a fighter; her plans to help save her village won't be thwarted as she heads off from home to fight the monsters and make a few friends (and enemies) along the way. A full-color graphic novel, wonderfully illustrated by Agnes Garbowska, that actually contains a couple stories of Peach's coming into her own; a nice, fun, at time humorous read, if not necessarily a standout book that will have you rushing back for more. Probably a bigger rush for kids, with a terrific "girl power" message, but definitely worth any adult's time for a quick read, too! (Available March 22)  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 MAGNOLIA PALACE - Fiona Davis

1st Line: "Lillian Carter stood half naked, one arm held up like a ballet dancer, the other hanging lightly down at her side, and calculated how long she could avoid paying rent while her landlord was in jail."

Prose (Story): Set in alternating timelines, Fiona Davis's latest work of historical fiction takes us to 1919 New York City ... where the young artists' model and muse Angelica, whose face and figure can be found all over New York and the world, finds herself -- mere months after her mother's death from the Spanish flu - embroiled in a murderous scandal that sends her running, despite her innocence, until she accidentally lands a job as a private secretary to the eccentric and demanding Helen Frick, daughter of world-famous (and infamous) industrialist art collector Henry Clay Frick, where she immediately becomes entrenched in the family's world and drama ... while, in 1966, a young model from the UK, Veronica, lands her first big gig via an NYC photo shoot for Vogue magazine - at the world-renowned Frick Museum, no less - where she and a handsome intern named Joshua work to solve a mysterious scavenger hunt that Veronica stumbles across; one that may end a whole lot of pain and scandal, as well as solve a decades-old murder.

Don's (Review): I believe I currently have all of Fiona Davis's novels on my Kindle, but this is only my second read of hers, after enjoying Chelsea Girls a few years ago. My love for New York City, combined with Davis's amazing way of weaving hisorical fact and fiction to the point where you don't know which is which, to tell a compelling story - normally centered around a well-known NYC institution - makes for especially compelling reading here, as Angelica (now using her real name, Lillian, to avoid the police and scandal) shows us, through her eyes, both the brilliance of the Frick family home - already designated as an art museum to be donated to the city - as well as the eccentricities of its occupants, much of it brought on by the family's own dark past ... while in 1966 things don't go much better for the naive Veronica and the photo shoot, even before a giant blizzard traps her and Joshua in the Frick Museum, where the scavenger hunt clues lead Veronica to a tough decision of her own. The plotting here is expert, effortlessly switching between timelines and characters as tension builds in both, and even while secondary characters are really well-drawn, it's clearly Lillian and Veronica's show from page one (though wow, does Helen Frick often leap - full of piss and vinegar - off the page, as well), each young woman trying to bounce back from a difficult past to find her fulfilling future. I was grateful for the only slight parlays into romance; for me, some of the best moments of the book were grabbing up my phone to look up image after image of a statue or painting from the Frick, as it came up in the narrative, and I also loved how the book kept the mystery plots strong in both eras ... right up until it connected them, bringing us full circle to a genuinely suspenseful, ties-up-all-loose threads ending that left this reader satisfied. Author Davis's Afterward, discussing what was real and what was fiction and how she brought them all together for the novel, was easily as entertaining as the book itself - as was the online tour I took of the Frick's treasures, currently in a temporary home nearby while the mansion undergoes renovation, after closing the book. As an adult, I have grown to appreciate history - a subject I loathed (and was horrible at) in school; had Ms. Davis been writing back then, it might have been an entirely different story for me.  4/5 stars

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

Reading: FEARBOOK CLUB - Richard Ashley Hamilton (author), Marco Matrone (illustrator), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

1st Line: " 'DUUUNCAAAN!' "

Prose (Story): Whit Garcia has just started 6th grade in a new school, and it's not going well. Shy and sleight in stature, the camera-toting kid finds himself almost immediately the target of a smart-mouthed bully, while his over-protective mother seems ready to teeter over the edge of panic whenever her son is out of her sight. Add to this an abandoned, dilapidated old part of his school, in which Whit's camera uncovers some very ghostly residents, and soon Whit has no choice but to join forces with his fellow Yearbook Club misfits to find out just what the heck is going on.

Don's (Review): I wanted to read this because the cover gave me such strong paranormal Scooby-Doo vibes, but wow was I surprised by just how much I loved this graphic novel! Whit and his fellow Yearbook Club members are all social pariahs at school - kids who don't really fit in - and between author Richard Ashley Hamilton's story and Marco Matrone's art I was immediately transported back to my own days of feeling both alone and lonely at that age, when you fit in nowhere and feel like you're not going anywhere. Whit is an exceptionally likeable kid - as are twins Hillary and Hester, and even former bully Press, the other kids forced to join Yearbook Club - and even as the gang learn that the ghostly threats at hand are all too real, we also have asides in which we learn more about Whit's story, and why his mother is as rattled as she is. The ghost story itself is the treasure though, further touching on the themes of fitting in and always having friends you can count on behind you, and Matrone's illustrations add the perfect level of spookiness to the story as more of what's going on is revealed.Very Scooby-Doo, but it also gave me the thrilling vibes I remember having while reading Hardy Boys books as a kid - again, all with a supernatural element expertly thrown in. Well - well - into adulthood now, from the start this well-written, perfectly-drawn graphic novel mystery, to me, felt like going home again to my childhood; simpler, happier times, where nothing mattered but the book I held in my hands under the covers, reading by flashlight late into the night to learn the solution of the mystery ... and to make sure these characters, now my new friends, came through it okay. I loved it.  4.5/5 stars

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

December Wrap-Up: I Have NO Idea What Happened!

December was a blur about three days into 2022; other than a loss of income, meant a letdown on what I was able to do for those I love for the holday (I get so much pleasure out of giving gifts over gettng them) - then to find out two of my closest family members both came down with Covid ... well, seven books read and five films watched is better than goose-egging on either (click on any image to enlarge)!

That said, the books were a mixed bag - or, at least, as vanilla as the holiday: another Christmas cozy that ended up a disappointment (not a bad book, just not ... a standout among the cozy pack), and a YA mystery/thriller from a favorite author that, while good and a genuine page-turner, felt a bit of the same as her other books. Graphic novels about werewolfs and weredogs and Abraham Linoln helped, and a flying superhero pig - along with a near-wordless love story told with beautiful, watercolor-like artwork - certanly ended 2021 on a high note, at least!'

Film-wise: made my 50! My goal each year is to watch at least 50 new (to me) films, and I hit 60 on New Year's Eve with the original Disney telling of Peter Pan (correct - I had never seen the film, in its entirety, before). Three of the five films I watched in December were animated, actually, with a Wimpy Kid adaptation a bit wimpier than I would have liked ... and the charming Luka a wonderful watch, even if (once again( it didn't feel like it had much to it that made it stand out from the pack Add a truly disappointing horror movie, and fairly recent Woody Allen film that was not bad but very uneven ... and, well, my December for movies very much mirrored my 2021 of movies: some good, some bad, many just meh.

So out with the old, and bring it on, 2022! Have too, TOO many of my favorite authors with new books coming out next year; for those alone, cannot wait!

Reading: TOP 10 BOOKS 0F 2021!

Not a bad reading year, 2021. No major slumps, some brilliant writers and stories, even some surprises - including a few highly-anticipated reads/authors I fully expected to be on this list, but for one reason or another fell short. 

There may be books I read in 2021 that I gave higher star ratings to than a few listed here, but I've come to realize that, by end of year, what makes my Top 10 Reads list are those books that have stuck with me. Stories and characters I still think about weeks (or even months, in some cases) late; books that have left a permanent mark like a visceral punch to the gut. These are those ten. To put it in maybe an even clearer way: I don't own many books, because I tend to give away all but the best reads as soon as I finish them, wanting to pass on a good book to someone else. With these ten, all of which were read via Kindle (money being what it is), I can honestly say I wish I owned a copy of each, to keep in my library forever.

Ranking isn't my thing, but usually I try to choose a #1 of the year. This year, there was at least a three-way tie for first place that I couldn't work through, so the books are listed in the order I read them, from earliest in 2021 to most recent. No ranking because all of them were ... well, the best of the best, at least to me.

1: GREASE: THE DIRECTOR'S NOTEBOOK by Randal Kleiser. Kleiser's personal diaries about the making of the iconic musical starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John; a shot-by-shot recounting of the film that includes never-before-seen images, deleted script scenes and dialogue, interviews with some of the cast, and Kleiser's own memories of his cast and the filming of a film that, today, remains as popular as it was 40+ years ago. A must-read for any fan of the film.

2. SNAPDRAGON by Kat Leyh. I read about a half-dozen fantastic graphic novels this year, but Snapdragon - read early on in 2021 - still rose to the top. A young girl named Snapdragon - Snap for short - learns a great deal about life and humanity when she makes an agreement to help out an old lady in town named Jacks, who may or may not be a witch.  Poignant, touching, lyrical. A beautiful story with a quirky, incredibly likeable heroine.

3. THE BURNING GIRLS by C. J. Tudor. To say the remote English village of Chapel Croft has a dark past would be an understatement, but even Reverend Jack Frost - recently relocated there as the new vicar - isn't quite prepared for the chilly arrival and haunting stories of the Protestant martyrs burned alive there five hundred years ago. Jack's teenaged daughter Flo, meanwhile, has her own issues trying to adjust from city life to a creepy wasteland steeped in its horrific past, finding some solace in a young, sickly boy her own age who is also a loner. But when Jack learns the truth of what happened to the previous vicar, and Flo actually has a vision of young girls set on fire, Chapel Croft's newest residents find themselves in real danger - and The Burning Girls goes bat-sh*t crazy, with reveals I never saw coming resulting in a book that had me holding my breath for its second half ... and a book my mind kept going back to, weeks after reading it. In a lesser year, could have easily been my #1.

4. THE LOST APOTHECARY by Sarah Penner. Told in two timelines; in modern-day London, history buff Caroline Parcewell has just checked into a well-to-do hotel to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary. Problem is, just before leaving the States, Caroline learned her husband was cheating on her, so she's come to London alone and determined to both enjoy the trip and take some time away from him, to figure out what to do. But a chance enounter with some amateur treasure finders leads her to discover a small bottle in the Thames, which starts her on a journey to discover the truth behind a series of murders from a hundred years ago ... where the second timeline takes over, depicting the life of a young woman named Nella running a London apothecary shop who, behind the scenes, dispenses poisons to women with no other course in escaping the abusive men who've taken over their lives. A slow burn at first, I was nevertheless immeditely sucked into both stories - especially Nella's - becoming more intrigued, as the pages turned, to learn how the lives of these women a century apart would somehow come together. Author Srah Penner knows how to build both tension and characters, and for a debut especially this is a winner.

5. ACE OF SPADES by Faridah Abike-Iyimide. Niveus Private Academy is as exclusive a school as it sounds. It's senior year for the school's only two Black students, Chiamaka and Devon, both of whom are already given the honor of being named prefects on the first day of term, and the future seems bright for two of the school's best students ... until someone calling themselves Aces begins to start sending blanket anonymous texts to the entire student body, revealing secrets about Devon and Chiamaka that start off embarrassing and upsetting, but soon grow in size to potentially damage both students' reputations and educational trajectories. When things finally start getting downright threatening, Chiamaka and Devon - who really didn't know or associate much with each other, prior to Aces - must combine forces to find out who is targeting the only Black students in the school, uncovering something far more sinister than either anticipated. Though the ending felt a bit rushed for me, this was another sure-footed debut with a pair of main characters so real on the page, once I hit the halfway point every time I had to put down the book, it absolutely irritated me until I could pick it - and the story - up again. And if that isn't a freaking great book, I don't know what is. 

6. DIAL A FOR AUNTIES by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Another novel that could easily have been my #1 of the year in any other year (and easily the book that made me laugh the most in 2021), this insane little caper starts when a young woman named Meddelin "Meddy" Chan accidentally kills a man who tried very hard to force himself on her sexually ... only to be rescued by her mother and three eccentric aunts, who help her hide the body on the eve of a huge wedding event catered by the auntie's popular catering company. When the corpse accidentally ends up attending the nuptials, and Meddy's life is further complicated when the one man she let get away shows up in her life again - at the wedding, no less - the ever-increasing lunacy proves nothing more than Sutanto's incredible skills at chraracters and plotting and depicting the culture of the family, because even as you shake your head with laughter at how outrageous the shenanigans get ... at the same time the characters are so real and hilarious and engaging, OMG I can't even express how much I loved this book - nor how badly I await the sequel in March!

7. MURDER IN A TEACUP by Vicki Delany. If I remember right, the first book in this series made my Top 10 last year, and here Delany continues the trend. Tearoom owner Lily Roberts is gearing up for her grandmother Rose's company at the B&B, even after  the McHenry family turns out to be a bickering mess of angry people with hidden agendas and bigger secrets - but when one of the family literally drops dead in Lily's tearoom, poisoned, the amateur sleuth has a tangled knots of alibis and backstories to unravel to find the killer. Delany is a joy to read, the mystery laced with lighthearted bits of humor and wonderful characters. Here, though, what kind of blew me away was the revelation of the killer, and how the book's finale plays out afterward. SO well-done, and well-plotted, but also a pretty riveting read, for a cozy especially when so many cozies I've read lately have come off very "vanilla". Really, really love this series, and am wondering if book three might be out in time to make 2022's list?

8. VELVET WAS THE NIGHT by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Another author on my Top 10 list for the second year in a  row (I will love Mexican Gothic to my dying day), one of the remarkable things about this book is how wildy, incredibly different in style and tone it is from that previous gothic-horror novel - but wow, did I adore this, another of my tied contenders I couldn't decide betwen for the #1 position of the year. Here, the reader is set up in 1970's Mexico City, where a rather bland office drone named Maite leads a humdrum life that's about to get a lot less humdrum. See, Maite's much more beautiful, glamorous neighbor, Leonora, enlists Maite's aid in cat-sitting for the weekend ... and then promptly disappears, really irritating the snot out of Maite who was only doing it for the money (well, and to also be able to poke around the girl's apartment unchecked). Even when Leonora finally gets in touch, asking Maite to grab the cat and a few other things and meet her at a strange address, Leonora doesn't show, further irritating Maite who needs the cash. Meanwhile, our second POV character, a small-time thug named Elvis, has his own issues that tie into Leonora - and as the book's violent and mysterious events continue, we see Maite and Elvis geting closer and closer to having their paths cross, in a tumultuous era of Mexico's history that leaves anything up for grabs. I don't know how many writers can bring people to life on a page like Moreno-Garcia; with both this novel and Mexican Gothic, literally from page one her characters are just so all-consuming to me; I am intrigued by them on this weird, deep level, and whether I like them or not I can't help but follow their journey. And it's quite a journey here, leading to one of the most satisfying endings I read in a book in 2021, if not ever, and has made Moreno-Garcia a go-to author whose backlist I need to catch up on, asap. 

9. THE DECAGON HOUSE MURDERS by Yukito Ayatsuji (translated by Hong-Li Wong). I had an opportunity to read an ARC of part one of the manga version of this celebrated Japanese novel, finally translated into English, and when I coudn't get to part two fast enough (thanks to that part one cliffhanger!), I went straight to the source and read the novel. An homage toAgatha Christie's And Then There Were None, this is the story of a group of college students in Japan - all part of a school group of detective fiction fans, and each one nicknamed with a the name of a famous mysery writer - who journey by boat to the remote Tsunojima Island, the site of some grisly murders one year ago. They will be staying in the infamous Decagon House, a one-story, ten-sided structure built by the eccentric architect presumed guilty of killing his wife and servants the year before, prior to setting their manor home on fire and killing himself as well, and from the start even the smaller Decagon House comes complete with no electricity and a sense of creepiness that feels etched into the walls. Nevertheless, even without wi-fi service, the students are all mostly excited to spend the week investigating and studying the crimes that occurred on the island ... until they learn they've all been invited there for a reason, desolate and cut of from the world or any help. And then, one by one, they start to die. I loved this book from the beginning, it was atmospheric and creepy and kept me turning the pages - and even though I guessed the killer within maybe ten pages of the reveal, it was still a gasp-inducing surprise and spoiled nothing, thanks to the shocking way the finale played out. And while I thought it a great mystery - and homage to Christie - with maybe the occasional clunker as far as style (due, perhaps, to the translation), what I didn't foresee was that this book would absolutely haunt me for weeks to come, after finishing it. I simply couldn't get it out of my head; not the reveal, the ending, even how just the last page plays out. Another tie for #1 I couldn't break on, though in any other year this could have been #1 just because - to this day - it won't fully leave me alone.

10. CHRISTMAS DINNER OF SOULS by Ross Montgomery. Lewis is an 11-year-old boy in England, caught damaging the ancient, scary Soul's College on the hill. As punishment and to pay for the damage, his mother agrees to send Lewis over on Christmas Eve night to help serve at a huge dinner being held for the holiday, but upon arrival Lewis finds both the meal and chef distasteful, even gross - but then the dinner guests, the staff of the college, show up and Lewis realizes he is in the presence of a room full of genuine psychopaths, murderers, and monsters, all of whom can now, on Christmas Eve, show their true, noxious colors. Then the Dean arrives, and Lewis learns he's witnessing a yearly ritual designed to destroy children, happiness ... and kill off Christmas for good; a ritual in which a handful of guests are chosen to each tell his or her most disgusting, repulsive story of all time, the winner of this competition then moving on to try and find the one thing in the catacombs downstairs that will destroy Christmas for good  An ingenious, original, and actually at ttimes fairly unsettling middle-grade novel that kept me riveted from cover to cover. Not your average Christmas read, but quite possibly my favorite one, now.

Reading: CRUSHING - Sophie Burrows

BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT

Prose (Story): In a book told in subdued watercolor-style imagery, a young woman and a young man both navigate their daily lives in the Big City, each of them lonely and looking for love in a time when society has more than ever disconnected us from each other. 

Don's (Review): My first solo trip to New York City, in 1987, found me sitting in the Hotel Tokyo on my first night there, unsure of where to go and what to do. By 10pm I realized I was in a city of, what, nine million people, yet had never felt so alone. Sophie Burrows's masterful debut, Crushing - told pretty much with zero text - brought me right back to that night, as I turned the pages and followed a young woman in her twenties, living life in the big city nearly crowded out by people, yet with little to no interaction with any of them. At one point she shares a brief smile (but just a smile) with a young man in his twenties, and from there the book divides its time between the two of them, each flying solo ... yet we immediately have the impression maybe they'd be good together, after their single brief encounter. With a very subdued pallette broken up by red via the girl, the guy, or actions in the story, this is a moody but hardly sad book, so beautifully drawn and painted, that simply depicts human nature in a world where screens and pandemics and keenly-bred mistrust have more than ever isolated us from each other. Neither of our main characters are unhappy or depressed - each seems perfectly well-adjusted and happy in his or her own life - but wanting to share that life with someone else, which at times makes them a bit lonely, as anyone would be (and 99% of us have been, at one time or another). Both their stories are told with humor, dignity, and an incredible amount of heart, and I loved it - as, I think, any romantic would. For a book with no words,,this one geuinely sings. (Available on Kindle January 11)  4.5/5 stars

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

November Wrap-Up: Enough with the Turkeys!

Okay, maybe "turkeys" is a bit harsh; didn't read anything rotten or even really bad for November, but aside from a couple of true gems, I have to say that November was a bit of a "meh" reading month ... and ditto for the films I watched (yes, brought films back into the mix after a couple months), a few of which were letdowns as well.

That said, Christmas Dinner of Souls is likely to end up on my Top 10 Reads of 2021 list - so, SO good! - and World Class was one outstanding graphic novel that actually made my eyes tear up, while Unspeakable is maybe the first picture book that made me angry, thanks to one of the most heinous injustices that every occurred in our country - which, I am sure, never made it to the vast majority of history books in schools, other than maybe as a footnote if that.

Also, was craving a Christmas-themed mystery, and for the first three-quarters found a real gem of one ... until the book committed one of the worst sins a mystery can commit - revealing the killer and their capture OFF-PAGE, no less! - and then further decided to add a teaser of the progress of a romantic storyline, literally on the last page of the book, which seemed both forced and rushed (and, as this is a mystery and not a romance, such an ending was totally unnecessary). A true shame, as prior to the killer reveal I loved everything about this book - the characters, writing, humor, storyline, all were top-drawer. Now, I don't think I am even going to continue the series, or go back and read the ones I missed.

So, a hit and miss of a month (as always, please click on any image to enlarge, if you need to see covers or posters better); hoping for better to wrap up the year in December - and already mulling over my Top 10 Reads list, as I have been lucky enough to pick up some GREAT titltes this year. How about you??