Note: This blog is not regularly updated. Also… WordPress decided to “retire” the theme I had used for years, and I had to switch to a new theme. This means that posts made previous to 2025 will look like crap on your phone. Since I am relatively busy, I decided not to go back and fix every blasted paragraph of every blasted post. #sorrynotsorry
Book Review: James
This retelling of a classic hits it out of the park. As a modern book written in a modern style, it will appeal to a modern audience. I’m not one of those “throw away the canon of old white men authors” people… but we need to supplement and expand the canon and this book is…
Book Review: The Future
Alderman reinterprets a Bible story and uses it as the basis for a cult while at the same time pointing a very accusatory finger at tech billionaires for the evils of the world. This is not a post apocalyptic novel (or is it?) and it doesn’t have all the answers (or does it?) But in…
Book Review: Parable of the Sower
This is a really interesting book full of interesting and frightening warnings about the future, and I am glad I read it. I also really like speculative fiction which helps.
Relaunch, Reviews, and What the Heck is ASPECT?
Yes! I am relaunching the Pages and Popcorn Podcast feed… but this time instead of talking with a rotating group of cohosts about movies based on books, it will be just me doing a weekly podcast where I talk about books.
Book Review: Reader, I Murdered Him
This book is, in essence, a bit of well-written fan fiction of a literary character that most people don’t give more than a passing thought to. It isn’t high literature. It isn’t meant to teach us things about the human experience. But, sapphic love is great and needs as much representation as possible, so cheers…
Book Review: Razorblade Tears
This book feels like a bit of a throwback to the more male-centered Thriller/Adventure novel and includes several familiar cliches and tropes, but it also can sit comfortably in the realm of Contemporary Fiction because while violence might be the beginning and end of the action, there is a lot of introspection and relationship building…
Book Review: Kiss Her Once For Me
And no, it isn’t entertaining because of the plot. We all know what is going to happen and when and pretty much how. It is very close to a story via paint-by-numbers. So, what saves it? The characters.
Book Review: Nevada
It is an important book. Not just for broadening one’s horizons, but also as a historical document. This book was (and still is) very important to the canon of queer and trans literature. For that reason alone, it should be read by anyone who wants a decent working knowledge of queer/trans history.
Book Review: Payback’s A Witch
As is common in the genre of romance (and in YA) there is not a lot of character development but there is a fair bit of personal drama and angst. And while the characters are interesting and their fashion senses are extremely on point, I will say that I wanted more.
Book Review: Small Angels
I would recommend it to anyone who wants a ghost story fairy tale about magical woods and literary levels of how society treats outsiders. It isn’t overly spooky, but the prose is beautiful, the magic was folkloreesque, the ending satisfying, and bonus… a lesbian couple!
Book Review: Rainbow, Rainbow
Short story collections tend to be a mix of protagonists and situations that sometimes center around a theme. Such is the case of Rainbow, Rainbow by Lydia Conklin. Her theme is broad “the lesser-known stories of the LGBTQIA experience” and she does a masterful job of telling these stories with gut-wrenching prose.
Book Review: Lessons In Chemistry
Book Of The Month recommended it to me with the tagline “This novel has the perfect molecular structure: a charming protagonist, humor, a lovable dog, and feminist bonafides.” And… yes. 1000% yes.
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