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 to that.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
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 as well.
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 Not just for broadening one’s horizons, but also as a historical document.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: 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.
Book Review: We Were Liars
For the beach, for a plane, for something to read while sitting in the hammock sipping a diet coke… yes. This book isn’t going to change your life or be on any best-of lists. But it does exactly what a short summer read should do: tell a simple engaging story quickly and with very little fuss or muss
Book Review: It’s Not All Downhill From Here
An easy light read tailor-made for the beach with the obvious happy ending, but it took too long to get to the resolutions, relied too much on clunky dialogue, and did more telling than showing. Still, enjoyable for what it is: an easy light read tailor-made for the beach.
2021 By The Numbers
Book I read: 84 (Here they are in case you are interested… and just for fun, here is my Goodreads Year in Books.) Reviews I wrote: 51. And another one that I wrote in 2021 but won’t drop until tomorrow which is 2022, so… yeah. Here they all are in a big ol’ list ifContinue reading “2021 By The Numbers”
Book Review: Once There Were Wolves
This beautifully written novel is about what is wild and what we should fear. In the hands of a less skilled author, the connective tissue between the multiple plot lines would have been stretched too thin or been too tenuous to hold together. McConaghy, however, does a wonderful job of bringing her themes through all the various plot points and builds connections around them. What is wild vs civilized? How does the struggle between the two inform and reflect in our sense of family, community, fear of the unknown, and the question of how far we will go to protect what we hold dear?