It’s strange how a book like this—small-town rural Ohio circa 2015—can feel like an artifact of the past and yet an ongoing present. Mike is middle-agIt’s strange how a book like this—small-town rural Ohio circa 2015—can feel like an artifact of the past and yet an ongoing present. Mike is middle-aged, gay, single, and lost, with no cultural script for how someone like him can find connection and happiness. He believes the best he can hope for is hookup apps and casual flings, until he meets the capricious Matteo and the enigmatic Dave, who each challenge him in different ways.
What stood out to me is that, just like Mike without a script, this book has no formula. It’s not a romance that would fit in that genre; it’s not quite litfic of a midlife crisis either. It feels like it’s mapping new terrain, page by page, stuck when Mike is stuck, forging new paths as Mike forges them, unpredictable the way real life is. It could have gone any number of ways right up until the end, which makes the outcome all the more poignant. As another review on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ says, it opens up portals of possibility, with a tough conversations along the way. I like that. I like the idea that those portals are there to find. New scripts to be written, new paths to forge, new maps to make. With a bit of guts, with a bit of love, with a bit of honesty and vulnerability. May we all be so brave.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Superb and long-overdue reevaluation of Jane Austen and the context in which she wrote her beloved novels. For many people, I imagine “radical� is theSuperb and long-overdue reevaluation of Jane Austen and the context in which she wrote her beloved novels. For many people, I imagine “radical� is the word in the title that lifts eyebrows; for me, it’s the word “secret.� Austen’s politics have always felt clear on the page, and this is how I’ve read her, even lacking some of the well-researched context Helena Kelly provides here.
I understand romance readers, myself included, who get tetchy at the suggestion that the romance genre is inferior, and a book must earn in its way into the canon by being Serious and Important. But I also stand by my conviction that Jane Austen wrote only one romance�Pride and Prejudice—and had to warp all societal conventions to do it, and it’s important to understand why. She is first and foremost a political writer to me, and however you read her endings, the domestic is political, the economics and hierarchy of society is political, who we’re permitted or forbidden to love is political. When Kelly agrees that Austen deserves to be in the same conversation as Mary Wollstonecraft or Thomas Paine, I cheer....more
I know a book is going to be good when it starts off with the way language limits or distorts our understanding of a subject. Recommended to absolutelI know a book is going to be good when it starts off with the way language limits or distorts our understanding of a subject. Recommended to absolutely anyone, with or without a uterus, with or without the intention to procreate. It’s ostensibly about pregnancy loss and miscarriage/stillbirth awareness, but that overlaps with many things—abortion, grief, medical misogyny, racial injustice, human rights. The authors treat a sensitive topic with care and respect, and fury when called for.
U.S. laws around women’s bodies, pregnancy, miscarriage, or abortions are rooted in a lack of understanding of how it all works, and it’s no coincidence that the women I know who are anti-abortion were raised with abstinence-only education. As the authors bluntly put it: “if you don’t even really understand how the fetus gets in there, you don’t sweat the details of how it gets out. Birth, miscarriage, abortion—it’s all a mystery.� Books like this go a long way toward rectifying that lack of understanding, and if we’re gonna stop the spiraling reproductive care crisis, it’s not a moment too soon.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I love seeing what Japanese manga does with gender. Ada Palmer’s has some of the historical context for it, but you don’t neeI love seeing what Japanese manga does with gender. Ada Palmer’s has some of the historical context for it, but you don’t need a history lesson to enjoy this fun volume. I particularly liked the seamless inclusion of a trans girl alongside the cross-dressing boys, highlighting the differences and similarities among the two, and the lack of moral panic surrounding cross-dressing and gender in general. When their identities get revealed, it’s not seen as betrayal or deception, but a shared way to bond. Makes me realize how ingrained our expectation is for that betrayal part of the story—why? It’s not necessary. Imagine that, a world where gender isn’t so feared, policed, and politicized. How refreshing. It was great.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I’m not averse to anachronisms in my historicals (Lex Croucher, Alexis Hall, et al. can get away with ahistorical murder), but there is anachronistic,I’m not averse to anachronisms in my historicals (Lex Croucher, Alexis Hall, et al. can get away with ahistorical murder), but there is anachronistic, and then there is untethered from reality. This was the latter, and not in a fun way. The info-dumping, the choppy writing, the shallow girlboss feminism, the hypersexual internal monologues, the plentiful (and destitute) dukes, the chaotic plot and even more chaotic characters, all of it made me bail earlier than usual. I think Howard and I just may not vibe in our tastes or sense of humor.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I’d prefer a bit less Joseph Campbell and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, but overall, the best book on tarot I’ve encountered so far. Or, rather than aI’d prefer a bit less Joseph Campbell and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, but overall, the best book on tarot I’ve encountered so far. Or, rather than a definitive superlative, it’s the book that most resonates with me so far. It’s how I engage with tarot, not for divination, but therapeutically, creatively, narratively, for introspection and storytelling. I took gobs of notes, and I have a feeling that I’ll thumb through its pages often in the future....more
The fourth in a series, and I read at least one of the first three during the fugue state years when my dad’s health was failing, so I have only the hThe fourth in a series, and I read at least one of the first three during the fugue state years when my dad’s health was failing, so I have only the haziest memory of it. That might mean I’m missing something, as it never felt explained in the text why the other women hadn’t come to Jane’s aid before now, nor why Jane’s feelings for Adrian would evolve beyond a schoolgirl crush.
The plot is sketched out, not fleshed out—the side characters are props, the culprit is telegraphed from his first appearance on page, both the mystery and the romance are a series of scenes that happen without much tension or suspense, and the climax is sloppy to a fault.*
One thing that bothers me in romance is when it’s taken for granted that the couple belongs together: i.e. they’re young, attractive, and available, so poof, they’re in love. As opposed to being drawn toward someone against expectation or reason, and all the complexity and growth that entails. It manifests a lot more often in straight romance than queer romance, for obvious reasons, which is why these m/f historicals keep failing me, even when I’m just in the mood for fluffy distraction.
*(view spoiler)[The bad guy’s alternately holding a rifle or a pistol. Which is it?! Both? Are both his hands full then? Is it just sloppy typos? A pistol is very different from a rifle in a small, enclosed attic. That changes the plan of attack! Or it should, if the scene was blocked correctly... or blocked at all. Instead Adrian gets a pistol of his own (off the butler! without even checking if it’s loaded!), passes it to Jane, who has NO experience with firearms, and has her shoot the bad guy! It’s supposed to be this badass moment but it doesn’t track at all and makes him look selfish at best, intentionally endangering her at worst. I was already struggling with the romance, but that sent everything into full WTF territory. I had to re-read some KJ Charles just to calm myself down. (hide spoiler)]...more
Lex Croucher, this is not. This landed on the wrong side of cheesy for me, and whoever compared it to The Princess Bride should have to answer for theLex Croucher, this is not. This landed on the wrong side of cheesy for me, and whoever compared it to The Princess Bride should have to answer for themselves. It’s a second-chance romance twice over, with two different couples who seem better off apart (although the lesbian couple was marginally better, but I may be biased for obvious reasons). The writing is clunky in a way that I hope gets improved before the final publication. I often like to read new authors unawares, but had I looked up the three authors behind the pen name I would have known ahead of time that this wasn’t for me.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Melancholy little novella about vampires stuck out of time in our modern world, besieged by the violent noises and smells as civilization encroaches uMelancholy little novella about vampires stuck out of time in our modern world, besieged by the violent noises and smells as civilization encroaches upon them. The author has written other autistic characters; it seems like he has first hand experience of the nerve-wracking world of sensory overload to render it so accurately. Moreover, the language is a feast—mannered, formal, elegant dialogue about Airplane Mode and bicycle helmets, all dislocated in time.
It seems as if everything has been everything, at least once, and all these fast-moving, fast-dying people forget it.
A book after my little southern queer heart. Garringer crisscrosses the Bible Belt, collecting a scrapbook and oral history of various LGBTQ+ people lA book after my little southern queer heart. Garringer crisscrosses the Bible Belt, collecting a scrapbook and oral history of various LGBTQ+ people living in the rural margins. The older interviewees—the elders who survived the AIDS crisis and more—are the best and most emotional part. It’s easy to get miffed when people act like the Brooklyn or San Francisco subcultures are the only ones that matter, or like gay and trans people don’t exist in the south except to be persecuted. Yes, the political climate is often dire, and there is a wealth of queer culture, community, and joy in the smallest and southernest of places. This documents the lived reality of the former with a celebration of the latter.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
A very brief tale of a unicorn searching for other unicorns, with each spread rendered in a different historical style—Tang dynasty murals, medieval iA very brief tale of a unicorn searching for other unicorns, with each spread rendered in a different historical style—Tang dynasty murals, medieval illustrations, cave paintings, African art, surrealist art, and more. The color palette and visual cues make it more cohesive than you’d think. I’d happily have it on my own shelves or gift it to nieces and nephews, both for art and story alike. Gorgeous work.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Turns out I’ve read most of these stories before, but it makes sense to repackage them here for their gothic themes and add a pleasing cover. My hope Turns out I’ve read most of these stories before, but it makes sense to repackage them here for their gothic themes and add a pleasing cover. My hope springs eternal, with each new edition, that Sade gets placed in his rightful political context, his radical philosophy that’s more dangerous than any pornography.
I relish Sade for his boldness; I’m disturbed by Sade for the same. If Justine or Juliette is too daunting, then his short stories are an adequate aperitif. (Although Philosophy in the Bedroom is still the best introduction to Sade’s themes, IMO.)
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
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