Read this one as part of Allstora's (Very Gay) Book Club. I was hoping for a quick, easy, and fun read given that it had been a hell-ish stretch ... s Read this one as part of Allstora's (Very Gay) Book Club. I was hoping for a quick, easy, and fun read given that it had been a hell-ish stretch ... so bad that I didn't even pick up a book for about 6 weeks, which is definitely my longest reading "break" of my adult life. Given that, it may explain that I still wasn't in a great head-space and ultimately didn't have a great reaction/experience with this one despite it being a quick, easy, and at times... fun read.
I likely wouldn't have picked up this book if it wasn't automatically sent to me. Self is a writer/performer, but I am guessing for most ... including me... not someone you have ever heard of, tho guessing I may be too old as I am guessing he has a cult following in the gay community. I've run in to this before with memoirs of folks who aren't household names in that I really don't care about reading about their sex life. Now if it was the same stories written by say Ricky Martin , that would have ... ahem!... piqued my interest much more, so to speak. Likewise, when you don't "know" the person you are reading about in order for the book to work you have to enjoy spending time with them or latch onto something personality-wise, and that just wasn't the case here. It just kind of all got old quick for me.
So yes, a pretty bitchy take ... but again, Self had a very steep hill to climb in order to break through my real-world woes. I am sure many others would enjoy Self's tales and humor. Unofficially 2.5 stars for me, but a goodwill round-up to a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 3 stars for being the first book I finished in pretty long time.
My first delivery from AllStora's "Very Gay Book Club" selected by gay historian, Dr. Eric Cervini. If this book is any indication of the quality of b My first delivery from AllStora's "Very Gay Book Club" selected by gay historian, Dr. Eric Cervini. If this book is any indication of the quality of books Cervini is picking, it's going to be a great (and very gay) reading year. I felt like I had read Haslett before, but apparently that was not the case - but this felt like one of the best written books I've read in a long time. It has a lot of layers and requires a decent amount of attention span, which I am considerably lacking these days (for those reading this hopefully in the future, it's the first weeks of the second T&ump administration), but I was still absorbed by this tale of an asylum lawyer (Peter, who is gay) and his mother (Ann, also gay) and a secret from his past.
What keeps me from giving this a top rating was that I felt there was some extraneous stuff, like Peter's many (many!) asylum cases, where only one case is a thread throughout the novel -- and it didn't quite have the closure/resolution ... or maybe, total satisfying conclusion. So it's a case where I probably enjoyed parts more than the proverbial "whole" of this one, but again those parts were very, very good and Haslett can write! Again, I think a case where my mental capacity isn't quite there these days for reading, let alone having cohesive enough thoughts to write up something here (it's taken me over a week after finishing the book, to do this!).
Again, very encouraged that I was at least able to enjoy a somewhat complex book again -- as well as looking forward to more "very gay" reads from annual/book-a-month Allstora subscription. ...more
I read this one as part of the 2025 Tournament of Books (ToB), though it had been on my radar since it's publication in early 2024. I always like that I read this one as part of the 2025 Tournament of Books (ToB), though it had been on my radar since it's publication in early 2024. I always like that ToB forces my hand a bit to get to books that I want to read but just can't or didn't get to during the year. So I was looking forward to this one, especially given its high ratings (4.12 here at the time of this writing) and my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends here also lauded it (for the most part), but as you see I feel like once again I missed the proverbial boat on a beloved book,
I thought the concept was very good/intriguing, an "alien" from another planet born here on Earth as a girl and, once she grew up enough, ultimately reporting back to her superiors (via a fax machine no less!) about human behavior. A fun concept and while it was an enjoyable enough read and sporadically very good and insightful, I just did 'get' the point -- though for me, the novel ended strongly, but for me it took too long to get that my full engagement had flat-lined before getting there.
So again, given the high ratings and praise from others I never want to discourage folks from reading books that end up not being a good fit for me (or a good fit for me at the current time.... and I've been struggling to connect with books for several months now), but this was a pretty solid "liked it" 3 stars. ...more
This one came to my attention making the Booker Prize longlist and also many year-end (2024) best lists, but it was its inclusion in the 2025 Tourname This one came to my attention making the Booker Prize longlist and also many year-end (2024) best lists, but it was its inclusion in the 2025 Tournament of Books that finally got me to read it. It is an interesting concept, the story of 8 teenage girl boxers (now that's a sentence you don't read/see every day) told via their matches in the ring at a national tournament in Reno, Nevada. During each match, we learn about their pasts and even futures, along with what got them in the ring. The focus of this is never really about the boxing, so if that is a potential scare-off you don't have to worry about that -- but that, said its lack of use makes it feel like a convenient device (versus say a creative one). I also found that if I didn't read each boxing match in one sitting (or at least the same day), I tended to get confused which girl was which ... and it also felt a tad repetitive after awhile. That said, it was still good/interesting enough and I "liked" it (thus 3 stars), but maybe slightly surprised over all the (more intense) love and praise. ...more
As a gay middle-aged man, reading this one was pretty much a requirement -- in fact, I feel like one of my earliest memories is watching the Sonny & C As a gay middle-aged man, reading this one was pretty much a requirement -- in fact, I feel like one of my earliest memories is watching the Sonny & Cher show (and even, The Cher Show), so Cher is someone who I feel like has been a part of my entire life. As one hopes with most memoirs, there is a lot to learn here and a decent amount of juicy tidbits. The only thing I feel like I probably need to explain here, is why "only" 4 stars instead of 5?
Well, this is a two-part memoir with the second part being published late 2025 and while I appreciate Cher splitting things up a bit and not making this a 1,000-page memoir like Streisand's, I still think it could have been done in one volume. I think there is too much time/pages spent on her childhood and it is a bit of a slog and repetitive and, at least initially, the writing didn't "sound" like Cher. I was never under any illusions that Cher wrote this herself (you only had to follow her on Twitter/X to know how she writes/things), but still I was discouraged when I found myself not enjoying the first chunk of the book. Thankfully things take off when Cher meets Sonny, the book becomes breezier and the "Cher-isms" that us fans know and love started to emerge. I still wouldn't call this a stellar-ly written memoir, but it ultimately was the guilty pleasure I was looking and hoping for. Meet me back here in about a year, to see what I think of Part 2! ...more
My last "official" read of 2024 motivated by it being included in the 2025 Tournament of Books (ToB), being selected at the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Readers' Choice My last "official" read of 2024 motivated by it being included in the 2025 Tournament of Books (ToB), being selected at the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Readers' Choice for Favorite Fiction, a current 4.17 average rating (on a stunning ~166k ratings!), plus getting it on a pretty good e-book sale. This was definitely an easy and, despite some serious undertones, fun read, but one that I am slightly baffled by the just presented laudatory evidence. It was good, but I don't feel like it was *that* good. It just all smacked of at time slapstick-ish romantic comedy (or more sitcom-ish as some potentially romantic comedy tropes were not fully executed on) with unrealistic situations and character behavior. It will certainly make a great and very popular movie or streaming limited series (I think it may have already be optioned?) and ride on the coattails of some good casting (say Nicole Kidman, since she's in everything... or any of the Big Little Lies female cast!).
Again, I'm feeling kind of Scroogy here as there is nothing 'bad' here and its obvious a lot of folks loved this book, but I guess I was just looking or hoping for something more. I felt like the premise and "bones" was good. I wish I bought more into Lila and Phoebe's "friendship" or that Phoebe's emotional/mental health arc didn't move quite so much at warp speed. I feel like I have read plenty of books where an author convinced me of some very unrealistic things, but here they just wore thinner and thinner as the story progressed. An unofficial 3.5 stars, but a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ round-down to a "liked it" 3 stars.
Pretty comprehensive and entertaining look at the history of reality television, including its genesis in the earlier days of television. Ultimately t Pretty comprehensive and entertaining look at the history of reality television, including its genesis in the earlier days of television. Ultimately this was a mixed bag for me. I was quite a fan of reality television when it boomed and for probably a decade or so... so many of the stories about the first season of Survivor and Big Brother, along with MTV's The Real World were pretty interesting for me. But my other "favorites" like The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, and I'm sure many others don't get much print here... and not that that's a criticism, there is/was just SOOOO much reality there is no way for Nussbaum to cover it all -- and again, she is just concentrating on main genre groundbreakers -- so shows/genres that I had/have not interest in like Cops or The Bachelor(ette) remained sections that I tended to skim through.
I can't quite pin down when I/we stopped watching reality, but for us it just got "old"/repetitive and manipulative... tho that manipulation is something that Nussbaum addresses and a topic that I found interesting. I am not sure if her "thesis" is that the world we're living in a result of reality television, but I am sure it's not a coincidence that the book ends with a dissection of The Apprentice and the former and now future US president. If you follow my "reviews" here, you won't be surprised that I am flabbergasted by this -- and even if we didn't know anything more about that man other than the stories Nussbaum shares here seems like it would be disqualifying enough, but alas here we are. But yeah, my disgust about the manipulation and the rewarding of bad behavior (it gets screen time!) that are hallmarks of reality television (and I'll also add the rise of the anti-hero in dramatic television ala Tony Soprano and Walter White -- two of the best shows ever, but still...) helps to explain why we are where we are. This book also prompted a revelation that our recent abandonment of watching 24-hour news channels is in part due to the talking heads panels probably reminding me too much of the "Housewives" genre (yelling over each other, getting a "viral" sound byte, etc.).
So I am rambling here now -- but again, Nussbaum does a good job here in documenting this reality phenomenon, but again my interest about individual shows and genres (notably dating shows) knocked a point or two off things (again, not Nussbaum's fault -- she's just reporting, but not an engaging reader experience for me at times). And again, it was all ultimately depressing as it just feels like so many of the ills and evils of some of the reality genres is the "real" world we're living in... again, not Nussbaum's fault, but probably not the encouraging or uplifting read I needed right now (but I should have know better, ha!). Round up to 4 stars for Nussbaum completing (or at least tackling) the assignment, but probably an unofficial 3.5 stars for me for overall enjoyment and reading experience. ...more
Unpopular review alert. I had this one on my to-read list for almost a year and have many of my online peers love it, then it made the Booker Prize lo Unpopular review alert. I had this one on my to-read list for almost a year and have many of my online peers love it, then it made the Booker Prize longlist (tho not the shortlist) and with 4.31 Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ rating (at the time of this writing) I was excited to get to it. But alas this one was likely another victim of hype/high expectations, which is not fault of the author ... but it is what it is. The bones of this novel are fine and Matar is a gifted writer, but this one was too much of a slow burn for me. On top of that I have been in a daze since the 2024 presidential election and no book as of yet has been to break though that mental haze, dissatisfaction, disappointment, and low energy. The book started strongly enough, but my attention span and care level felt like it floated away like a helium balloon the further I got the book. So again, I feel this is largely a case of likely the "right" book at a very wrong time -- tho I am sure, I don't have the motivation to tackle it at a better time (and given those election results, who the heck knows when that "better" time will arrive).
Besides Matar's prose, other positives were that I felt I learned a little bit more about Libya politics and history and life as an expat/refugee in London. There were parts of the novel that I did connect with, but again not enough and not the ones that I think were the important parts to "get" in being able to enjoy this novel, as again it appears many folks were able to. So again, don't necessarily trust this review -- but if you struggled with it or wondered "what did I miss?" you have a comrade with me. Oh, and 5 stars for the cover ... which was the primary reason that motivated me to get the hardcover edition. ...more
I'll admit to getting "influenced" to read this one thanks to book-related social media as well as it making it onto the longlist for the National Boo I'll admit to getting "influenced" to read this one thanks to book-related social media as well as it making it onto the longlist for the National Book Award. While it started off for gangbusters for me, my feelings about it dwindled or should I saw I grew exhausted over these angsty, very "online" stories of isolation and ... spoiler alert... rejection of Gen Z-ers and Millennials. So a big part of my mixed feelings about this one is just that I felt too waaaay old for it. Again, I appreciated the insights it was giving me to these younger generations who "live" more online than in the "real world" - but it got to the point at times that it was unreadable for me, particularly the main short story (70-ish page novella?) "Main Character."
It was honestly approaching a DNF for me, but I soldiered on and then Tulathimutte threw in a twist/flip of a last very "meta" story that almost suggests ... or maybe it's the point of the collection?... that the reader was supposed to reject this very book/collection. So I was impressed with that ... again, wonder if that is truly his intention... but it still all felt a bit too show-off-y for me. Likewise, the stories (loosely linked and... autobiographical (???) at times) were very provocative, ballsy, and explicit... but again, so much that I feel like Tulathimutte was testing the reader patience and tolerance and where their line is to be crossed. I appreciate the swinging for the fences, but again too much for me -- but that said, Tulathimutte is a literary star and might just have his finger on these younger generations and maybe gives some insight on why this 2024 presidential election turned out the way it did - where a hope-filled, aspirational message for the future was ... rejected. ...more
This one is a bit of Goldilocks syndrome for me -- a bit too much on some stuff, not enough on some other things and also not quite the book I was exp This one is a bit of Goldilocks syndrome for me -- a bit too much on some stuff, not enough on some other things and also not quite the book I was expecting (which is my fault vs. Senna's). So I was expecting a bit more of a satire on race (or being bi-racial) as well as re: the TV industry, it's there but "not enough" for me (tho satire is a tough tightrope to walk and everyone has their own tolerance level for it). And I'll just be intentionally vague here as it's pretty problematic for a middle-aged white guy (tho gay!) to criticize how a bi-racial author addresses race in her novel, but it's an aspect that didn't quite work for me ... again, a bit of Goldilocks that I would have preferred it to be either more direct/confrontational or more on the sly, but again it was in this fuzzy middle area for me.
This was also a test of unlikeable characters as this novel has no shortage of with. I know folks like to say they don't mind unlikeable characters in theory, but then when faced with them find it's hard to like the novel. I didn't "enjoy" the main character, but alas there is a relatable aspect to her -- tho again, much of the tension of the novel is created by her (unnecessary?) lies. It's all kind of cringe-y/train wreck-y, but admittedly page turning too.
Finally, while there was buzz about this novel on its own, I have to admit what played a not insignificant part of this one getting into my hands and flying up my TBR list was that Senna is married to one of my favorite authors, Percival Everett. I have been floored by his works for years now, so rightly (and probably more wrongly!) that raised my expectations for this one -- that again, may have not quite been met. I wish I came into this one with a bit more a blank/clean slate -- but it was still quite good and entertaining. Unofficial 3.5 stars with a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ round-up to 4 stars (so see, still pretty darn good and very discussion-worthy)! ...more
Picked this one up as was intrigued by it (and one particular quote from it, that I'll share below) as it made the 2024 Booker Prize longlist and ulti Picked this one up as was intrigued by it (and one particular quote from it, that I'll share below) as it made the 2024 Booker Prize longlist and ultimately shortlist (I had intended to read it before the shortlist was announced, oh well!). But nevertheless, a well-deserved honor for Harvey's amazing novel about 6 cosmonauts orbiting the planet on an international space station. While the book is not tech-y/geeky, and obviously I can't vouch for any of the scientific aspects of the book -- it's all very cool and staggering that I am not sure how Harvey was able to digest all that information and gently weave it into the narrative.
It's worth throwing out the caveat that this book is not heavy on plot or on characterizations and that seems like it shouldn't work, but it also just seems to gel/jive with a book about floating through space and circling around the planet and experiencing multiple sunrises and sunsets each "day" and passing by continents like they're fast-food restaurants on a main highway. It's one of those books where it feels like it's about nothing and everything all at once -- humanity, the planet, life.
Does it get a bit too ethereal at times? Or do you get fuzzy of who's who on the space station or find yourself not even caring? Sure, and that's probably why this one lands at 4 stars for me -- but it's still a worthwhile and unique reading experience and I'm glad the Booker (as it typically does) brings me a book I otherwise would have not known about.
Oh, before I leave here's the quote that lured me in...
"The planet is shaped by the sheer amazing force of human want, which has changed everything, the forests, the poles, the reservoirs, the glaciers, the rivers, the seas, the mountains, the coastlines, the skies, a planet contoured and landscaped by want." ...more
Just a quickie review as it's taking me too long to get to writing something and also had a lot of stop-starts on this one due to the 'real world' intJust a quickie review as it's taking me too long to get to writing something and also had a lot of stop-starts on this one due to the 'real world' interrupting, but a very entertaining, highly readable, quite fun, and very contemporary story of a young (single) new mother turning to Only Fans to earn some money.
This one is certainly one of the buzziest books of 2024, and likely to grow astronomically buzzier thanks to its ultimate transition to the small screen (AppleTV?) with the likes of Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Elle Fanning as Margo (tho kind of confused with the just announced signing of Pfeiffer as Margo's mom Shyanne - not sure who Kidman is playing?).
That said, I'm still a tad befuddled by some of the extreme enthusiasm for this one/what the fuss is all about, and curious to that a lot of folks seemingly very surprised they liked it (a lot of 'don't judge a book by its cover' commentary). It's definitely "chick lit" for sure, but my experience has been that's not always a bad thing. Anyhow, this never hit OMG! greatness and I did have some nagging issues with the ending (a bit of a "nothing burger") and I was anticipating/hoping for some (greater?) payoff with the shift/use of first- and third- person narrative throughout the novel. I was expecting maybe some sort of "aha" literary device moment there re: that shift, but it didn't happen or I missed it (which could totally be the case given that I took a week+ off in the middle of reading it).
A good fun read that pretty much met (but did not exceed) my expectations. ...more
Despite liking this collection of personal essays, I still am feeling like I missed the proverbial boat on this one as I have six Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends, a Despite liking this collection of personal essays, I still am feeling like I missed the proverbial boat on this one as I have six Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends, all who I value/trust their opinions (which isn't the case for all of them/you, ha!) who gave this one 5 stars. I am firmly in the 4 stars group (or maybe even a tad under) as like most essay collections I found this one to be a bit hit-or-miss.
I have had Chee on my to-be-read list for a while now and even picked up an e-book copy of 'Edinburgh' but this one leap-frogged ahead due to a e-book sale and oddly enough, many "bookstagram" folks reading this 2018 release just recently. Chee can seriously write and enjoyed, or perhaps more respected, this collection for that fact alone, but again I often feel like a "bad" gay when I can't quite connect with personal tales from a queer perspective.
I have to admit it's a very ingenious title for a non-fiction essay collection from a fiction writer. I know the book was just named for one of the essays, and while not all (or most?) of the essays centered around writing or the writing process, with the title in my head it was just interesting to imagine how Chee's multi-topic'd essays could turn themselves into a work of fiction, or even a character or an element in a novel (autobiographical or not).
I've been in a quite ornery reading mood where nothing quite is working out (Goldilocks syndrome?), so I guess that could be part of it. But again, with a 4.39 overall rating off of 11k+ reviews, this "review" certainly shouldn't discourage you or anyone from reading it. I always love to hear from writers and the writing process, but maybe I should have given his fiction a ride first before this? Anyhow, quite good but still a bit still lacking the intangible I am seeing in many reviews and ratings. ...more
To be honest, I had no plans to read this memoir. Like many, I have been a fan of Whoopi Goldberg (aka Caryn Johnson) for a long time and as a card-ca To be honest, I had no plans to read this memoir. Like many, I have been a fan of Whoopi Goldberg (aka Caryn Johnson) for a long time and as a card-carrying libtard I am a semi-regular watcher of 'The View' but there didn't seem anything compelling about this until I heard a couple of Goldberg interviews about the book where she discussed her grief/mourning experience over the loss of her mother and brother, her only core family members, really resonated with me over the recent-ish loss of my father.
While I found what I was looking/hoping for on that particular subject, it was only really discussed in the final chapter and didn't add much more to the interviews I heard of -- but still very good stuff, that I wish I could rip out the pages and share with folks who have gone through that experience and/or who are dealing with elderly parents. Wise words and advice.
Other than that, and as the title suggests this book is "bit and pieces" of Goldberg's life and career. Coming in at under 200 pages, it is not exhaustive or detailed or even particularly "juicy" - but that was all okay, as I felt I still gained some insight of Goldberg and her humble and, perhaps surprisingly (?), happy childhood in the projects. Overall, a quick and entertaining read. ...more
Poet-by-day Kaveh Akbar's debut novel "Martyr!" seems to be one of the buzziest books of 2024 and after reading it, and taking a few days to digest it Poet-by-day Kaveh Akbar's debut novel "Martyr!" seems to be one of the buzziest books of 2024 and after reading it, and taking a few days to digest it (which I don't feel is totally possible), I can certainly see why. I won't even try to describe this one other than say it is the story of bisexual/queer writer / artist / creative Cyrus, an Iranian immigrant to the US ... a recovering drug/alcohol addict... dealing with the death of his parents (by natural and unnatural causes)... who gets intrigued by a fellow Iranian's last act of her own performance art.
This is one of those unusual cases and thrill of reading a book you feel like you have never read before as well as some of Akbar's unique observations. I was particularly smitten with a brief passage about the how odd sleep is and the charade we go through every night in pretending to sleep before actually doing so -- it's a very universal thing, but yet it felt like this was the first time I had someone articulate it in my 50ish years of reading.
There are a lot of moving parts in this one as Akbar keeps filling in the past to help explain the present day and there is a big plot twist unleashed late in the novel. I'm guessing that twist may be a dealbreaker for some folks, but given how invested I was in the book it was easy for me to go with it (and I'm guessing many other readers as well as the book currently has a 4.24 average across 17k+ reviews). But yes, there is crafting going on here that may not be some folks thing. In the acknowledgements, Akbar gives major props to Tommy Orange and Lauren Groff -- so that may provide a clue as well.
I thought for sure this was landing at 5 stars or at least an unofficial round-up to 5 stars, but the ending was a bit too fuzzy for me and in a bit of a contrast to Akbar really hitting all my marks through 90% of this. Even a couple of days later, I can't even remember how it ended -- but certainly still in awe of many parts and aspects of this story. it will be interesting to see what Akbar does next -- this feels very personal and the novel he had to get out, but what next - given Akbar's obvious talents, I'll be there for it. It's a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ 4 stars, but definitely would creep up fractionally if I could... 4.25 or 4.5 stars.
And if Akbar wanted to win me over even further he did so in the final words of the acknowledgments: "Reader, your attention - a measure of time, your most non-replenishable resource - is a gift, one I have done my best to honor. Thank you, thank you." How can you not love that?! ...more
A lot of my reading around this time of year is a result of attending the Santa Fe Literary Festival in mid-May. This one is festival-adjacent as I sa A lot of my reading around this time of year is a result of attending the Santa Fe Literary Festival in mid-May. This one is festival-adjacent as I saw Taffa at last year's (2023) Festival when she was in discussion with David Treuer and his book "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee" (which I have yet to read, oy!) and she spoke of this upcoming memoir. I was intrigued by her and picked up the book this year (2024) during a lunch break and trip to the great local indie bookstore (Collected Works). So that's everything you need to know about the "why" of this book.
As you can see, I ended up being a bit disappointed by this one. Don't get me wrong, there is some really great insights of growing up Native (technically, half-Native which further complicates things) in Yuma, AZ and Farmington, NM (btw, two of three states I've called home). Where this memoir excels is when Taffa reflects on her childhood as an adult, the generational trauma, and Native history. This was the case in the opening chapters which were so good, I actually had to read paragraphs aloud to my hubby. But then it just turned into a less engaging and a bit too blow-by-blow of the school bullying (by fellow students and mean-spirited teachers) and finding your place in a big, lower-middle-class (??) family. A lot of time, it just felt fairly ordinary with many stories that did not add much to overall arc/intention of the memoir, which is honestly way harsher than I intend it to be --but to bastardize Tolstoy, it just seems like a lot of (most?) childhoods are unhappy (traumatic), but unhappy in their own way. Yes, Taffa's "own way" is a valuable voice to hear/read, I just wish that that there was more reflection and I would have loved to hear how Taffa eventually went on to earn her MFA and her adult life rather than the story stopping at high school graduation and a quick fast-forward (perhaps, saving it for a second book)?
As I usually caution with my more critical reviews, don't necessarily trust me. As I type the book currently has 4.19 average rating as you can see in the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ blurb lauded by critics as a "best" and "highly anticipated" read. Ultimately, it's just quibbles about structure and approach and certainly nothing against Taffa and again the value of hearing minority voices and the often not so "great" history of this nation. ...more
Another book that I read thanks to this year's (2024) Santa Fe Literary Festival. This acclaimed and award-winning memoir had been on my radar long beAnother book that I read thanks to this year's (2024) Santa Fe Literary Festival. This acclaimed and award-winning memoir had been on my radar long before Santa Fe, tho to be honest we almost skipped the Hua Hsu session as we had already seen so many authors (and planned to see so many more), but alas we did attend Hsu's session and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to reading this one.
As you can see, it didn't quite come out as anticipated. This is a good book (again, keep reminding myself ... and others... that 3 stars is "liked it"), but I was still baffled by what the point of it was and then what distinguished it enough to have it win the Pulitzer Prize for Memoir along with the to NBCC Award for Autobiography. Much like Hsu himself, the book was kind of mellow and low energy about his upbringing as a child of Taiwanese immigrants and their life in Cupertino (before Apple invaded and put the town on the map), as well as university life in the 90s and alternately about grief after one of his college friends is tragically killed.
There is a good deal of pop culture as well, particularly music which he would go on to write about for the likes of 'The New Yorker' and 'The Atlantic' (tho this memoir does not delve into his post-college life/career). Hsu is about 10 years younger than me, and that proved enough to not be able to connect so much with many of the pop culture material of that time and his often like-ably nerdy and academic approach to things.
In the acknowledgements, Hsu notes that he was working on this for 20 years but added it "didn't become a book until my agent Chris saw it as one" ... so my struggle here (which is really overstating things, again I "liked" it), is I am not sure how I would have saw this as a book as there doesn't seem any profound knowledge or something "new" that Hsu is passing along to readers about any of the subject matter in the book. But again, don't put all your faith in me as the book currently has a 4.03 rating, meaning a lot of 5-star ratings in the 30k+ amassed here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ....more
There's no way any review of mine can do justice for this book. If you have any interest in "how the West was won" ... or even if you don't think you There's no way any review of mine can do justice for this book. If you have any interest in "how the West was won" ... or even if you don't think you do (I'll admit that I may have leaned in that direction), this is the book for you. Using the legendary Kit Carson as a thread, historian Hampton Sides gives readers and epic and thrilling tale of the Western expansion of the United States. If this is how history was taught in school, I'm guessing there would be a lot more history majors out there!
I lost track of the amount of things I learned in this book. Some of the names are familiar, but they come to life here. And this is also the story of, as the subtitle state, the "conquest" of the West and along with that the Native population. The bloody battles between the growing United States and the Native populations, particularly the Navajos, was truly eye-opening... and as is the case of learning American history as an adult, incredibly shocking and disturbing. Remind me again, when America was great? Again, the amount of information Sides dishes out here is terribly impressive and while it might slack off at times over its ~500 pages, it is engaging and page-turning.
It meant even more to me since a lot of the book takes place in my home state of New Mexico. So it definitely helped to be able to know many of the places in the book or at least be able to look it up on a map and now distances and the geography of the area. Our beloved Santa Fe - already a magical destination for us - is prominently featured and I am sure the next time we return, I will have a new-found awe literally walking through history.
I read this one as we had a chance to see Hampton Sides at the 2024 Santa Fe Literary Festival. A resident of Santa Fe himself, Sides is a regular at the festival -- tho this year he was a featured author, promoting his new book "The Wide Wide Sea" about Captain James Cook. I should also note, my hubby read this book last year (thinking we were going to see Sides at last year's festival, tho we never ran into him) and raved about it -- so this book had been lingering on my to-read list for over a year, but I'm glad I had the extra push to final dig in this year thanks to seeing Sides.
Again, highly recommended and a no-brainer 5 stars.
A totally spontaneous read as I just stumbled upon Justinian Huang and his debut novel "The Emperor and the Endless Palace" ... and probably not for t A totally spontaneous read as I just stumbled upon Justinian Huang and his debut novel "The Emperor and the Endless Palace" ... and probably not for the totally right reasons as Huang is pretty sexy and pretty gay and is not shy about posting a thirst trap or two on Instagram... but hey, he sold a book to me! :-)
This one was definitely a bit outside my reading box -- think Huang describes it as a romantasy thriller as there are those three genres in the novel (tho thriller definitely pulls up the last descriptor slot by far)... and told via three storylines taking place in China in 4 BC, the titular emperor and endless palace storyline... 18th Century China of an innkeeper and a mysterious visitor (the most fantasy storyline)... and present day USA and Asia (heavy on gay-sian circuit party life). As the opening quote of the novel suggests, there is a reincarnation and eternal love/lust threat that runs through the alternating plot lines.
It was fun to read an all-Asian book, and particularly an all-gay-Asian novel, which I am pretty sure is a first for me. Huang often signs his book with the friendly warning "Gird your loins!" and calls the novel spicy -- and that is certainly the case. Huang comes out of the gate with man-on-man action in each of three opening chapters/timelines, the 4 BC storyline apparently based on a real-life romance between a Chinese emperor and a "courtier." And it gets pretty explicit, even if I happily snickered at some of euphemisms --take for instance this opening salvo "I flipped him face-first onto the mat in my chambers and pounded his pink plum until it was quivering around my happily depleted influence." So that gives you a taste, so to speak, of what you are in for here.
Landing on 4 stars here as while things got pretty darn cheesy at times (a quality that I think is part of the romance genre), this was still a heck of lot of fun and entertaining -- and again, I really enjoyed Huang's bravado and spirit.
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