"Love Me Tenor" by Annabeth Albert

This touching and sometimes funny book centers on Trevor Daniels and his role in a reality television competition between boy bands.  The producers want him to pretend to be in a relationship with one of his fellow band members to up viewership.  Having recently graduated from a religious college and been kicked out of his family for coming out of the closet, Trevor figures he has little to lose.  Unfortunately, things don't go as smoothly as he'd hoped.  His poor self-esteem, loneliness, and recent diagnosis of diabetes, which he tries to hide from everyone, nearly does him in.  Luckily, he does manage to befriend the singer with whom he's been paired for "romance," Jalen Smith, a natural caretaker with a beautiful voice.  Can he help Trevor work through his problems enough for their group to win the competition?

This was a fun story with lots of characters and two likable, compassionate leading men.  Poor Trevor goes through so much with his health, his family, and his lack of confidence that it's not hard to root for the guy.  Jalen starts off a bit gruff but turns out to have a very caring side not just for Trevor but for his own family as well.  This was book two in the Perfect Harmony series; I did not read book one but do not feel like I missed anything.  232 pages (Kindle edition).

"Not My Father's Son: A Memoir" by Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming survived a horrible childhood with an abusive father in Scotland to become a very successful actor, writer, singer, producer, and director.  (He won a Tony Award for Cabaret in 1998 and is now a regular on TV's The Good Wife.)  This memoir tells parallel stories from Alan's memories of abuse and his journey as an adult to find out more about his maternal grandfather who died in Malaysia in 1951.  He did the latter for the television show Who Do You Think You Are?  His mother's family were never told the truth about his grandfather's death, and at the same time as filming, Alan's father drops a bombshell on him after more than a decade of silence.  So there are two mysteries that he's trying to solve, and both are bound to cause emotional upheaval for him, his mother, and his older brother.

This is an excellent, well written, and riveting memoir about secrets, lies, misconceptions, and mental illness, and what they do to families.  It is not a complete autobiography of the author's entire life but about how he survived his childhood as well as two enormous revelations that happened in his 40s.  I admired Alan Cumming before I read this and that admiration is even greater now.  Highly recommended.  294 pages.

"Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa" by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illustrated by Brian Pinkney

What a cool and beautiful book!  Ella's story is told by Scat Cat Monroe in rhymes and rhythms, from her childhood dream of being a dancer to her work with Dizzy Gillespie at Carnegie Hall in 1947.  The illustrations are flowing and colorful, with Ella and her various collaborators and bands flying high and dancing with energy.  Scat Cat is in almost every scene, explaining the magic of the music and Ella's contribution to jazz.  Highly recommended.  32 pages.