Book Review: "Exposure" by Ava Dellaira

More than 10 years ago, I read Ava Dellaira’s debut novel, a YA book called Love Letters to the Dead. It was an absolutely beautiful, powerful story. Exposure is Dellaira’s first adult novel, and it is equally powerful, moving, and thought-provoking.

In 2004, Juliette, a student at the University of Chicago, runs into Noah, a high school senior who was in a poetry class she taught as a volunteer project. Juliette is white and Noah is Black, but the two have grief in common. They hook up twice in Juliette’s dorm room.

In 2016, after years of struggling and trying not to lose hope, Noah realizes his dream of becoming a filmmaker. His movie is about to be released, and he and his wife, Jesse, a bestselling novelist, have recently had a baby. On the cusp of this life-changing opportunity, Annie, who was Juliette’s best friend, shares a bombshell about Noah that she recently discovered, and it threatens to upend everything he and Jesse have worked for.

“‘You wanna be able to say she’s good and he’s bad,’ Jesse says, ‘and it would be easier if it worked that way. We all want to be one of the good guys. But we have to live inside of the same story, and it gets messy.’”

The book is narrated by Noah, Jesse, Juliette, and Annie, and shifts back and forth between 1999 and 2016. Each character has their own issues to deal with, but all four are greatly affected by grief, and the book demonstrates how thoroughly it can affect a person.

I’ll admit I didn’t love everything these characters did, but I devoured this book. I’m definitely going to be thinking about Exposure for a long time.

Book Review: "Bad Reputation" by Emma Barry

Maggie loved her job as a teacher and drama coach. But when she is fired for putting on a controversial play, she sues the school district and becomes an outspoken advocate against censorship. That brings her to the attention of the showrunner for Waverley (think Bridgerton), and she lands a job as an intimacy coordinator for the show.

When Cole starred in a hit teen drama, he was known more for his abs and his himbo attitude than his talent. In the years since then, he’s worked to rehabilitate his career and separate himself from the character that made him. But he’s hoping that Waverley will take him to the next level.

Both Maggie and Cole are immediately attracted to one another, but they know that acting on their feelings would be crossing a line. And the more she works with the cast on their love scenes, the more she identifies some long-hidden trauma among them.

Filming in England and Scotland goes well, and the attraction between Cole and Maggie intensifies. Early buzz about the series and Cole’s performance is strong, so better opportunities come his way. Maggie isn’t sure what she wants to do after the show is done, and as much as she’d like to be with Cole, she’s not sure that’s the right decision.

Yet as they embark on a relationship, scandal emerges that threatens to undo them both, and perhaps the show as well. They both realize that if their love is to survive—and if their careers are to thrive—they’ll have to fight with everything they have.

This was so enjoyable, full of all of the things I love about rom-coms: chemistry, banter, steam, likable characters, and a Hollywood setting. I couldn’t get enough of this, and I can’t wait for Emma Barry’s next book!

The book will publish 10/1.

Book Review: "Find Me in California" by Kerry Lonsdale

“Time doesn’t heal relationships, but conversation does.”

Matt is a photographer in Santa Fe. He lives a lonely life, with his business partner, Dave, as his only friend. But when he arrives home one night to find boxes stacked outside his garage, he is confused and figures someone else's boxes were mistakenly delivered. And then he sees that they were sent on behalf of his grandmother, who raised him for eight years, and never gave him one ounce of affection.

Julia volunteers at the nursing home where her grandmother, Ruby Rose, has been a resident since her dementia diagnosis, in order to afford her staying there. It’s becoming harder and harder to deal with the imminent loss of the woman who raised her, and handle not being recognized, even being feared at times.

Matt’s grandmother is a resident at the same facility; in fact, Julia is the one who shipped the boxes to him. When he learns his grandmother has run out of money and needs him to find a new facility for her, he reluctantly agrees to drive to California. But he’s not sure he can face the woman who made him close his heart to love.

When Julia finds her grandmother’s diary, she is shocked to find out what her life was like back in the 1970s. But more than that, she discovers that there were connections between her grandmother and Matt’s, and that Matt’s grandmother might have come to the facility because of Ruby Rose.

This is an emotional read, with a lot of loss as well as Ruby Rose’s dementia. It’s also a hopeful book, about letting yourself love and be loved, and about the secrets we hide to protect ourselves, but they may hurt others. There is also a strange thread of magical realism which I didn’t enjoy and found very unsettling (strange, since I love magical realism), so I focused on the rest of the story.

Book Review: "The Seventh Veil of Salome" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

If you like stories about old Hollywood and the behind-the-scenes activities that came with making movies, this may be a book for you. The truth is, it probably would make a fascinating limited series on television even more than a book.

It's the 1950s, and movies based on Bible stories are all the rage. A famous director decides to make a movie about the princess Salome, and nearly every actress in Hollywood has auditioned for the title role or wishes they could. But the director chooses Vera Larios, a young Mexican woman who has never been in a movie before.

Vera is excited about the movie but also very nervous, as acting was never a path she considered. She deals with impostor syndrome, because she doesn’t quite understand how she got the role or what is expected of her. And as the studio begins introducing her to the public, she finds herself on the arm of famous actors, going to glamorous parties, but she’d rather be at home.

It’s not long before Vera’s naïveté causes trouble with one of her costars, and makes her the object of gossip and scrutiny. At the same time, Nancy Hartley, an aspiring actress more known for sleeping around and drinking too hard, becomes envious of Vera, wanting everything she has, as Nancy thinks she deserves it more.

While these narratives are unfolding, they’re intertwined with the story of Salome, a young woman torn between her love of a handsome preacher and her duty to her family, including her stepfather, King Herod.

I really wanted to love this book, but there was just too much going on at the same time. The book is narrated by a large cast of people who flit in and out, sharing their perspectives. I enjoyed the story but felt the pacing moved much slower than I wanted it to.

Book Review: "The Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center

I love when one of your auto-buy authors knocks it out of the park with their latest book. This was just so good, and it couldn’t have been more up my alley.

“I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we’re longing for—adventure, excitement, emotion, connection—we turn to stories to help us find it.”

Emma has dreamed of being a screenwriter for as long as she can remember. But with her father needing constant medical care and supervision, she put her dreams aside and she constantly makes sure he's safe. She's sacrificed her dreams so her younger sister can pursue hers.

When she gets the chance of a lifetime—to rewrite a rom-com script with her idol, screenwriting legend Charlie Yates—she’s reluctant to leave her dad, but her family convinces her it’s her turn now. But when she arrives in LA, she discovers that Charlie not only wasn’t aware she was hired, but he adamantly refuses a rewrite, especially with an unknown like Emma.

With some shrewd negotiation, she stays in LA and Charlie hires her. But not only does she need to convince him to rewrite his horrible rom-com, she needs to convince him that love exists. And how better to illustrate that than by growing closer and closer?

I love Katherine Center’s books so much, and this is definitely a new favorite. It’s fun, funny, emotional, and romantic.

Book Review: "Bury Your Gays" by Chuck Tingle

Please clap. I have read two books outside my comfort zone this week.

I am a gigantic coward, which is why I generally steer clear of horror as a genre. (I’m still scarred from a prank my college roommates played on me related to the book “IT.”) But when I saw a few friends raving about this book, I figured I’d give it a chance. The fact is, this was more creepy and disturbing than all-out frightening, so I may be ok.

Misha has been a horror screenwriter for years, always hoping he’ll hit it big. And he finally does, in the form of an Oscar nomination, even though he jokes that it’s in a category they don’t televise. But despite this success, the studio bosses want him to kill the gay characters in his long-time streaming series—or don’t make them fall in love. This should get them even bigger ratings.

The demand is clear: kill them or be in breach of his contract. Misha cares more about the characters, so he’s willing to sacrifice his career. But suddenly he realizes he and his friends are being stalked—by monsters he created onscreen. Can he survive this onslaught? He’s going to need to face up to some secrets first.

This was really compelling, both as a story and a commentary on queer representation in the media. It’s a great way to convey this message.

Many thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the advance copy! The book publishes 7/9.

Book Review: "The Hollywood Assistant" by May Cobb

Holy twists and turns, Batman! May Cobb’s upcoming thriller definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. While not everything was a surprise, there was a lot that kept me guessing.

Since the end of her last relationship, Cassidy has been struggling emotionally and professionally. An aspiring novelist, she can’t seem to find the right story to hook a publisher. So her best friend Lexie convinces her to move to Los Angeles, and she lines up a job for Cassidy, as the personal assistant to a famous couple, Nate and Marisol Sterling.

Cassidy quickly realizes the job is a dream come true. She does a lot of shopping, runs errands, and organizes Marisol’s stuff, but there are a lot of perks, including being gifted a large amount of clothes that Marisol doesn’t need. And when Nate offers her the opportunity read a script and share her opinions, she gets to do that fairly often.

With Lexie shooting a film in Prague, Cassidy is pretty lonely, so she enjoys the easy camaraderie she feels with the Sterlings. They are a tempestuous couple, often fighting and then making up, which is awkward to watch, especially the more Cassidy feels a connection to Nate.

And then things start to go off the rails for the Sterlings, and Cassidy finds herself entangled in the mess. Amidst the chaos, she learns that things aren’t what they seemed. But is Cassidy, for that matter?

This definitely reads like a movie, and it is twisty and melodramatic. It’s fun when you don’t know whom to trust or how things are going to unfold. Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy. The book will publish 7/9.

Book Review: "Table for Two" by Amor Towles

Amor Towles is a tremendously talented storyteller, with the ability to create vivid, unique characters and evoke time and place in your mind’s eye. I loved Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow, and still think of those books.

One word rarely used to describe Towles’ books is concise. The Lincoln Highway is just under 600 pages; A Gentleman in Moscow is approximately 500 pages. Even this, his new collection of not-so-short stories and a novella, runs about 450 pages.

Table for Two includes six stories set, or ultimately winding up in, New York City. Some of these stories are absolutely beautiful. “The Line” focuses on a Russian man in the early 1900s who goes far simply by being nice; “Hasta Luego” tells the story of two men who meet in an airport during a winter storm, and one man’s life is more complicated than meets the eye; “I Will Survive” is about the damage secrets can do to a relationship; and “The Bootlegger” is a poignant story about grief and moving on.

The novella, “Eve in Hollywood,” focuses on Evelyn Ross, a character from Rules of Civility. Eve decides to go to Los Angeles rather than return home to Indiana with her parents. While there, she connects with a variety of people, famous, infamous, and ordinary, including legendary actress Olivia de Havilland.

“Eve in Hollywood” is told from seven points of view, which was too many for me. It takes a LONGGG time to get going—there’s lots of narrative that I wasn’t sure would ever get me to the story’s main focus—and not all the characters are as fascinating as I hoped.

I definitely had high hopes for this book that didn’t quite come to fruition, but I’m still glad I read it for the four stories I loved. And of course, I’ll be looking to see what comes next for Towles!

Book Review: "Everybody Knows" by Jordan Harper

Jordan Harper's latest is a compelling thriller that reads like a movie.

“…when Mae looks at people, all she sees are secrets.”

When there’s trouble to be covered up, Mae Pruett is on the case. As a “black bag” publicist for one of the most powerful crisis PR firms in Los Angeles, she is one of the people who protects the secrets of the rich and famous, making sure the scandals and foibles are hidden or dismissed away.⁣

One day, her boss and mentor is gunned down, supposedly the victim of a random carjacking. But it was just before he was going to share information on something big he was working on. Coincidence? Mae thinks not. No matter how much she is told not to dwell on her boss’ death, she is determined to figure out what happened. But it will put her in the direct path of companies like hers, shadowy firms paid to keep things secret—no matter the cost.

Thrillers are not my go-to genre but I couldn’t get enough of this book. It read like a movie or crime series and that’s not surprising given that Harper is a television writer. He’s also an Edgar Award-winner, so I’ll definitely be checking out his backlist.

Book Review: "Big Red" by Jerome Charyn

Jerome Charyn's Big Red is a compelling, fascinating novel about Old Hollywood.

I was so excited to be part of the virtual tour for this book, and I’m grateful to Over The River PR, Jerome Charyn, and Liveright Publishing for the signed first edition!

“I was an actress who couldn’t act, a dancer who couldn’t dance, a singer who couldn’t sing. So I went straight to Hollywood after my sophomore year of college.”

With those words we are introduced to Rusty Redburn, the book’s feisty narrator. It’s 1943. She is in love with the movies and the movie business, and works at Columbia Pictures.

The legendary Rita Hayworth is Columbia’s biggest movie star to date. But studio mogul Harry Cohn is worried about Hayworth, because she’s with troubled filmmaker Orson Welles. So Cohn does what any other studio head would do—he hires Rusty to spy on Hayworth. She becomes her private secretary and confidante, but things don’t quite unfold the way Cohn hopes.

I found this book so fascinating. It’s a look behind the curtain at the rise and fall of a Hollywood legend, but at the same time it’s commentary on how actresses were treated by the studio system. It’s also an interesting look at what life was like for a lesbian in the 1940s.

Whether or not you’re a fan of classic movies and Old Hollywood stories, this is a great read.

Book Review: "The Heist" by C.W. Gortner and M.J. Rose

With The Heist, this fun, glamorous caper series set in the late 1950s comes to a close.⁣

⁣ I’ve really enjoyed this series of novellas, which started with The Steal and The Bait. In this book, Ania Thorne has been hiding as she plots her next move to try and take down the notorious jewel thief, the Leopard. And she’s figured the perfect bait—she’ll design special jewelry for the Oscar-nominated actress of a major film.⁣

⁣ Jerome Curtis has been living a bleak existence in London, mourning the end of his relationship and the fact he threw away his career for the woman who abandoned him. A friend offers him a security job at her father’s movie studio, but unbeknownst to him, this job will put him right in the middle of Ania’s plan to trap the Leopard, who has gotten the jump on both of them before.⁣

⁣ This is really a series you should read in order, but since each book is less than 200 pages, it’s not that huge of a commitment. I love the glamour of old Hollywood that runs throughout the series, as well as the relationships and characters.⁣

⁣ Thanks so much to Get Red PR Books and Blue Box Press for the complimentary copy of the book. Here's hoping that C.W. Gortner and M.J. Rose team up again, or at the very least give us another installment in this series! ⁣

Book Review: "The Bodyguard" by Katherine Center

She’s been hired to protect him, but she’s been protecting herself as well.

This was great!! Katherine Center’s newest book has nothing to do with the movie of the same name but I couldn’t resist singing the soundtrack. (It is what it is.)

She may not look it, but Hannah is an Executive Protection Agent (bodyguard) at the top of her game. After dealing with some personal issues, she gets an unusual assignment—protecting famous actor Jack Stapleton while he’s in Houston visiting his family.

Jack is one of the most recognizable (and handsome) actors, but after a family tragedy a few years ago, he dropped out of the public eye. He certainly doesn’t think he needs a bodyguard at first but his studio gives him no choice. The thing is, however, he doesn’t want his family to know he has stalkers, so he insists Hannah pretend to be his girlfriend. She doesn’t think anyone would believe Jack would date her—she’s a far cry from his other girlfriends—but he’s a good actor.

When she and Jack move into his family’s ranch, she must negotiate the tension between him and his brother. But more than that, the more time she spends with Jack, the more she starts to feel like she could be his real girlfriend—which is bad for the job, and bad for her heart. Is he falling for her, too, or is he acting?

I love the way Center tells a story, and even though this was fairly predictable, I was there for it all. These characters—Hannah, Jack, even the supporting characters—were terrific, and I was completely hooked. This would be a great movie!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "The View Was Exhausting" by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

When Taylor Jenkins Reid calls a book “a pure delight,” you listen. Boy, did I love this romantic, soapy story of a couple whose on-again, off-again relationship keeps the public utterly captivated!

“The world thought Win had the perfect love story with the perfect man, passionate and devoted, always breathless, always in the honeymoon stage, stormy and on-again, off-again but still that strange, magical thing: true love. But Win had something better than that. She had a friend, and a secret.”

Whitman “Win” Tagore is a beautiful British Indian actress whose talent is mesmerizing. She burst on the scene as a teenager and has had a successful career, but hasn’t quite reached the heights she deserves because the film industry has impossible expectations for an actress of color.

Sometimes the stress gets to her and publicity turns against her. And that’s when she turns to Leo Milanowski, the playboy heir to a hotel fortune, who at times is followed by his own cloud of trouble and ennui. The two have been romantically linked numerous times, and whenever they’re together their romance lifts both of them out of whatever scandal either faces and distracts the public into buying into their love story.

But while their romance is for show, there’s no denying the pull they feel for one another. And when Leo finds himself in the midst of a real scandal it threatens to undo everything—and it forces them to realize what’s real and what’s for show.

I thought The View Was Exhausting was just excellent. I love “Hollywood” novels even if this didn’t take place in Hollywood, and I thought it raised some interesting discussion about racism in the film industry. I was utterly captivated from start to finish!

Book Review: "Something to Talk About" by Meryl Wilsner

Something to Talk About is a sweet rom-com set in the entertainment industry. And the way it reads, it’s perfect for a movie or television adaptation itself.

Jo was once a child actress, but now she’s an Emmy Award-winning television writer. She’s about to embark on her most ambitious project yet, completely out of her comfort zone, and the chatter has already started that she’s not qualified.

With the SAG Awards coming up, she knows everyone will ask about the new project so she decides she needs a buffer. She invites Emma, her assistant, to be her date. When the paparazzi catches a fleeting shot of Jo making Emma laugh, it fuels gossip that the two are an item.

Suddenly the world—and even those close to the two of them—believe there is something romantic going on. Jo doesn’t want to dignify the rumors, as she's never made any public comments about her dating life. But the gossip intensifies when it appears there’s an anonymous source in the office leaking things to the press.

The more time they spend together, Emma starts to realize that maybe she does have feelings for her boss, but she’s afraid to acknowledge them, and she doesn’t want to jeopardize her career or the project Jo is working on. For her part, Jo knows she feels more open, even happier and more secure when she’s with Emma. But does she want to be part of an old Hollywood cliché, the boss sleeping with their younger assistant? And would acting on this have even greater ramifications because they're two women?

This was a light, sweet, fun book, full of emotion and romance. It’s an interesting exploration of how easily we get affected by what people think—or what we think they think. I also loved the way Meryl Wilsner explored the different ethnicities and religious backgrounds of the characters. (I've got to say, it was so refreshing to have a character go to temple and meet with her rabbi to discuss issues. That just doesn't happen often.)

This was another great book for PrideReads. One warning: I had Bonnie Raitt’s song, “Something to Talk About,” stuck in my head the whole time!

Book Review: "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I loved every single thing about Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I had been meaning to read it since it was published last year, but something else always popped up in front of it, until I decided I needed to see what everyone was raving about. And boy, did I ever!!

Evelyn Hugo is a film legend. She is an Academy Award-winning actress, a philanthropist, a fashion icon, and, at her heyday, was one of the most stunningly beautiful women in the world. She retired from film in the late 1980s and mostly stayed out of the spotlight, enduring her share of tragedies. But her mystique still lingers.

When she decides to auction off some of her most iconic gowns to raise funds for charity, Evelyn also decides it's time to give an interview. She chooses to tell her story to Vivant magazine, but demands that a reasonably unknown reporter, Monique Grant, be the one to interview her. No one, Monique included, understands why Evelyn has chosen her, but the actress is utterly unwavering in her demand.

When Monique meets Evelyn, she is dazzled by her beauty, but is moved by her strength and her kindness. Evelyn isn't actually interested in giving an interview to Vivant—she wants Monique to write her biography, publishable after her death, and wants Monique to make a fortune once it's time to make a publishing deal. Although she can't figure out why Evelyn would give this prize to her, and she knows it could endanger her job, Monique jumps at the chance to hear the legend's life story in her own words.

"When you're given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn't give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that."

In Evelyn's luxurious Manhattan penthouse apartment, she begins unfurling her rise to fame, from growing up in Hell's Kitchen in the 1950s to making her way to Hollywood, from getting her start in movies to her decision to leave acting 30+ years later. Of course, she lays bare the stories behind her seven marriages and the men she took into her life, and the scandals, happy moments, and pain that accompanied those relationships.

Evelyn gives Monique the unvarnished truth and doesn't want to be portrayed as a good person—she knows she was ruthlessly ambitious, hurtful, calculating, and unwavering in getting what she wanted. But at one point, she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood, and her intelligence and ambition helped get her there.

As Monique listens to Evelyn's story, and is moved by the complexities of her emotions, she has her own emotional challenges to figure out as well. And as Evelyn's journey helps shape her own decisions, she still wonders why the actress chose her. But Evelyn also helps change Monique's frame of reference in certain ways, how she thinks of situations and people.

"It's always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly."

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is compulsively readable, like one of those television miniseries you can't stop watching. I'm a huge movie fan and love reading stories of "old Hollywood," and Reid captures that mood and environment so perfectly. But this is more than a soapy melodrama—this is a book with surprising depth, thought-provoking in the subjects it touches on, and unapologetic in its portrayal of what women needed to do to succeed in Hollywood.

Reid is an amazing storyteller. I know many have spoken highly of her earlier books and I'm going to have to check those out. But this book was fantastic from start to finish. I devoured the whole book in just a few hours because I couldn't get enough of it, but of course, I'm sad now that it's over. This was a terrific story of love, loss, self-reliance, and the struggle of being true to yourself and having to adhere to the roles society puts you in.

Pick this one up!

Book Review: "Pure Hollywood: And Other Stories" by Christine Schutt

It's ironic that one of the reasons I never used to like short stories, the fact that I had only a short time to build relationships with the characters, is one of the things I like most now. When stories are done right, it's amazing how complex characters can be, how complicated their journeys, and how deeply you can feel about them, in just a small number of pages.

I didn't really feel that way about Christine Schutt's new collection, Pure Hollywood: And Other Stories. She's definitely a talented writer, and her use of imagery is tremendously poetic. But I found her writing style a bit evasive, so it was difficult for me to understand the characters' motivations, what was happening to them and why, and, at times, whether or not I should sympathize with them.

In the title story, a brother and a sister with a rather complicated (and perhaps inappropriately close) relationship come together after the death of the sister's much-older husband, once a renowned comedian. As often happens in this type of relationship, her husband's adult children quickly ensure she is left with virtually nothing, so she needs to figure out where her life went wrong, and how to get it back on the right path, while ensuring her brother is nearby. (Or at least I think that's what the story was trying to say, because it meandered between their childhood, her relationship with her husband, an incident that happened after he died, and present time, sometime without any real signal as to when the scene or reminiscence took place.)

In "The Hedges," an unlikable and unhappy couple goes on vacation with their sick and cranky toddler. Very little is told about them except that they are unhappy with each other yet they still are trying to enjoy their vacation despite the demands of their child, and so they employ numerous coping strategies. The entire story foreshadows an incident, so when it occurs, you're unsure of how to feel, and given what happened, I felt badly that I didn't care enough about the characters to care.

"Species of Special Concern" tells of a man and his ill wife, and the man who seems to be infatuated with her, and definitely feels like he would be a better and more responsive (and responsible) husband to her. Yet the story is so short, there is not enough time to understand why the man thinks that way beyond jealousy, and whether the man cares for his wife, or whether the besotted man has reason to be covetous.

As the collection winds to a close, many of the stories get even shorter, so I found it even more difficult to get hold of them emotionally. I had a great deal of hope for this collection, but it just didn't work for me, so I hope it does for others. It's certainly possible I missed something in reading this book.

NetGalley and Grove Atlantic provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Movie Review: "La La Land"

Damien Chazelle's La La Land is a love letter of sorts. It's a paean to the musicals of yesterday, a tribute to the dreamers who power so much of show business, a salute to the City of Angels itself, and, of course, a love letter to love and the often-circuitous path it takes. That's an ambitious agenda, but Chazelle hits each note perfectly, creating a magic film to be savored over and over again.

From the minute the film in all its beautiful technicolor glory opens (a direct contrast to Chazelle's last film, Whiplash, which was both emotionally and atmospherically dark), you know you're in for a treat. Traffic has come to a dead stop on the highway (not a rare occurrence in LA, or almost anywhere these days), and suddenly, a beautiful girl in a brightly colored dress begins to hum, syncopating the rhythm of the horns and the chaos, and then the crowd breaks into song, celebrating the dreams that drove them to this city, to pursue a career in show business. It's a fun start to this movie and it signals this won't be business as usual.

In the midst of the traffic jam are Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone), who have a not-quite-meet-cute as the traffic dissipates. Mia is an aspiring actress who works as a barista at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers lot, while Sebastian is a jazz musician who dreams of opening his own club someday. But his problem is he's a jazz purist, and although the genre is waning in popularity, he's convinced if people just listen to it, they'll fall as hard as he has. This obsession causes him no end of misery, since he can't bring himself to settle and play other things, which leads to another less-than-special encounter with Mia.

But it's not soon afterward when Mia gets her revenge, in a delightfully campy scene, and when the two finally talk and trade barbs, it's clear to everyone (except them, of course), that this pair has incredible chemistry. They're determined to ignore it, however, and cement those feelings in a charming song-and-dance number with the city's skyline at sunset as its backdrop. It really feels like a classic musical at that point, although with a slightly modern twist.

At the movie's core, along with Mia and Seb's burgeoning relationship, is a key question: should you follow your dreams forever, or is there a time you have to either settle, or give up and grow up? Is the power of those dreams enough to sustain you even if it looks like nothing is going your way, or does that make you unrealistic? Both characters struggle with that dilemma, and it puts the inevitable strain on their relationship, as each does what they feel they need to. And the less said about the rest, the more you'll enjoy the movie.

This movie works on so many levels, in large part because Gosling and Stone both light up the screen (it's no secret I'm obsessed with both of them) and bring out the best in each other. As in Crazy, Stupid, Love, their chemistry just sizzles, and you root for them to get together.

Gosling, who seems often to shy away from his natural leading-man status, takes full advantage here, and brings a debonair song-and-dance-man charm to his role (good to see his early days on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club paid off), as well as a deep well of emotion. Stone, who appeared on Broadway as Sally Bowles in one of the revivals of Cabaret, doesn't belt her way through this movie, thankfully, because that would have felt all wrong. Her voice is light but not lightweight, and she is the perfect foil for Gosling. She, too, brings a lot of emotion to her role.

I really loved this, in part because I'm a fan of musicals, and in part because I love these actors, but mostly because it's an excellent movie. This isn't quite a traditional musical, as there's a lot of dialogue, as well. The songs are a perfect counterpoint at particular times throughout. I've been listening to the songs on YouTube since I saw the movie, and I am honestly thinking of seeing it again. I can't say yet whether this was my favorite movie of the year, as I have a lot of movies to see, but I know it will be among my top three at the very least.

Book Review: "Scrappy Little Nobody" by Anna Kendrick

So, I kinda have a thing for Anna Kendrick. I've been (healthily) obsessed with her since 2003, when she appeared in an indie movie called Camp, which was about kids attending a performing arts summer camp in upstate New York.

Anna played a young girl named Fritzi, who had an obsession with a girl named Jill, who starred in most of the plays that summer. But Jill mistreated Fritzi, so in the end, Fritzi got her revenge, as you'll see in the clip below. And fandom was born. (For those offended by strong language, the f-word appears once. Anna shows up about 25 seconds into the clip.)



Not only do I think she's an exceptionally talented singer and performer (I've worn out tracks from Into the Woods and The Last Five Years because I play them so much), but every time I see her on a talk show or make another appearance, I'm convinced that if we had anything in common (other than my admiration), we'd be super-close friends. We're both reasonably foul-mouthed, although not in a mean way (I hide it well when I have to) and totally sarcastic (again, not in a mean way), and neither of us suffers fools gladly. Seems like enough to build a friendship on, don't you think?

My instincts about her were definitely reinforced in Scrappy Little Nobody, her new collection of autobiographical essays which spanned from her childhood to the current time, tracing her anxieties, successes, fears, hang-ups, obsessions, and her sexual history. (Kind of.) This isn't a tell-all book in any way (although she has some nice things to say about a few celebrities, like Zac Efron), but rather a first-hand look at the growth of a star, from her earliest (disastrous) beginnings as a child in dance class to success, including Tony and Oscar nominations.

"I'd thought of myself as fearful and shrinking in childhood, but I was often single-minded and pugnacious. From age three onward I have been practical and skeptical and occasionally more courageous than I have any right to be."

At times uproariously funny (I seriously laughed out loud more than a few times) and incredibly self-aware, this is a tremendously entertaining book, but Kendrick isn't afraid to take herself down more than a few notches as often as she deems it necessary. Referring to her performing a local production of Annie when she was younger, she said:

"To this day, seeing a tattered brown cardigan or a pair of thin-soled lace-up boots makes my heart sing. In a costume context, not, like, on a person. I'm not some out-of-touch monster who sees real-world poverty and longs for the days of her musical-theater beginnings."

And of losing the Tony Award:

"I lost a Tony Award to Broadway legend Audra McDonald when I was twelve, so I've been a bitter bitch since before my first period...I also feel that if I had won and made a televised speech at age twelve, the delayed embarrassment would have been so severe, I'd currently be a Howard Hughes-style shut-in, but without the money for the mansion or the planes or the legion of servants to take away bottles of my urine."

This is frank and funny, and Kendrick doesn't mince words, and she says what's on her mind, so if candid conversation about her sex life and liberal use of curses bothers you, you might want to steer clear of this. But if not, this is the rare portrait of a talented star who takes herself less seriously than nearly anyone. It's refreshing and a hell of a lot of fun. (And I still think we could be friends once we stopped trying to one-up each other.)

Book Review: "Plus One" by Christopher Noxon

Alex Sherman-Zicklin, a mid-level marketing executive, has always been tremendously supportive of his writer wife, Figgy, as she works on script idea after script idea, pilot after pilot. Something's bound to work out eventually, isn't it?

But when Figgy's 14th pilot, Tricks, actually gets picked up by a cable network, they're both unprepared for how their lives will change. Despite challenges with its star, Tricks becomes a critical and commercial success, and wins the Best Comedy Series Emmy in its first year. Figgy is finally able to reap the benefits of her success, putting them in a better financial place, but exponentially increasing the pressure on her to sustain the show's momentum.

Given their newfound financial freedom, Alex agrees to quit his job and focus on managing their lives full-time, including caring for the couple's two young children. Alex sees this as an opportunity to do more cooking (he's quite the foodie), finding their new house and supervising the renovations, and perhaps even working on the memoir he's always been thinking about. It's not long before he finds himself drawn into the world of Plus Ones, the men whose wives are more successful and influential than they are. It's fun at first, but that sort of lifestyle starts to take its toll.

"Women married to successful men have a place. But guys in the same position? No one knows what to do with them. He could hear the interior dialogue: boy scored; must be hard on him; must make up for it in other ways."

Christopher Noxon's Plus One is an amusing twist on the more familiar scenario of the wife who finds herself adrift when her husband becomes a huge success. Alex not only must struggle with the mundane—making sure the kids get their homework done, trying to figure out his relationship with his children, and making sure the contractors don't rip him off—to more extreme feelings of inadequacy, jealousy of Figgy's long hours with her handsome coworkers, and wondering what's next for him professionally.

This was a fun book, one which touched on many of the stereotypical behaviors and activities you'd expect of the rich and famous. It's an interesting look at a man adrift, trying desperately to regain a little of his mojo, but also regain the attention and respect of his wife. I can't identify with many of Alex's struggles but I think many people struggle with some of the same issues he is, regardless of how much money their spouse or partner makes.

While I didn't think this was as laugh-out-loud as some reviewers have said, I enjoyed it. It's a light, quick read, and probably would make a fun movie.

Book Review: "West of Sunset" by Stewart O'Nan

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite writers of all time. Like many, I was first introduced to his writing in high school through The Great Gatsby, which I fell in love with pretty instantaneously, and then devoured everything else he wrote. But while I am familiar with F. Scott Fitzgerald the author, I honestly never knew much about F. Scott Fitzgerald the man, save his tumultuous relationship with his wife, Zelda.

Stewart O'Nan's new book, West of Sunset, follows Fitzgerald at the end of his life. In 1937, despite the successes he achieved with his first few books, he is teetering on financial ruin, and his renown has been eclipsed by other American writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. His reputation has been soiled by his days as a violent alcoholic, as well as Zelda's mercurial and sometimes destructive behavior. With nowhere else to turn, he lands a job as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

Scott finds Hollywood to be a garden of temptation, of both the alcoholic and female persuasions. He begins working at MGM, and is reunited with old friends like Dorothy Parker and her husband Alan Campbell, and Humphrey Bogart and then-wife Mayo Methot. He finds life as a screenwriter not particularly challenging, although he doesn't enjoy having to navigate studio politics, which cause him to be bounced from one film to the next, and he sees his work get edited by other writers and directors. He uses his spare time to try and write another novel, about a powerful movie director, but can't quite muster the confidence.

While he tries to immerse himself in Hollywood life, he also tries to be a dutiful husband to Zelda, who is living in a mental hospital, and their daughter, Scottie. And as he struggles with his addiction to alcohol, he meets Hollywood columnist Sheilah Graham, and promptly falls in love with her. Their tumultuous relationship, juxtaposed against his financial woes, his on-again, off-again binge drinking, and his guilt over betraying Zelda, causes his health to decline, and his career to do the same.

As a fan of old Hollywood, I found this book very interesting, as it touched on movies, actors, directors, and writers that I've heard of, and whose work I've seen over and over again. O'Nan paints Fitzgerald as a tremendously flawed character, desperately trying to redeem himself as a writer, a husband, a father, and a man, and not having much luck on any front. I've always been a fan of O'Nan's storytelling ability, having read all of his books, and while this one moves a bit slow at times, and feels repetitive after the fifth or sixth time Scott's alcoholism relapses, O'Nan's talent is once again on display.

This is an enjoyable, but somewhat melancholy, look at an entirely different side of one of literature's leading lions, and some of Hollywood's glory days. If you're as fascinated by movie and literary nostalgia as I am, pick this one up.