Updates

November & December Recap 2022

Close up of nametag that has Whoops! I didn’t mean for November to just disappear, but with working the polls for elections, a road trip to NC with the puppy, my first set of final papers in grad school while working full time, and my general November/December busyness it just disappeared in a poof.

So, when I finally sat down to write my recap post sometime around the 15th or 16th I just thought “Nah, I’ll combine November and December and give myself a reprieve.” Now, in early January, I’m not sure that was the best idea—thanks past-Geoff, thanks a lot.

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Books

Book 959: The Dove in the Belly – Jim Grimsley

Book cover of "The Dove in the Belly" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen I finished re-reading Dream Boy back in May, I did a quick search to see what Jim Grimsley was up to these days and stumbled across this upcoming release. I reached out to the publisher for a copy and crossed my fingers it wasn’t going to be as traumatic or emotionally draining as the others I’ve read.*

The Dove in the Belly is the story of Ronny and Ben. It takes place on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in the 1970s and that’s the main reason I wanted to read this, Grimsley went to UNC and having it set on the UNC campus intrigued me as I also went to UNC and remember some of the history around the early LGBT organizations and experiences on campus.

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Books

Book 935: Dream Boy – Jim Grimsley

Kindle book cover of "Dream Boy" with Amazon Affiliate linkBare with me for a moment as I go on a tangent. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with re-watching the Netflix adaptation of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series and I  couldn’t realize why other than it’s a fantastic series and adaptation, but then I read this book and it all clicked into place: queer joy.

Growing up in the 1990s/early-2000s I’d say 85%+ of all depictions of LGBT characters were tragic or left to interpretation and this is a prime example of that. Having the opportunity to watch Charlie and Nick in Heartstopper as they discover happiness and joy, even with setbacks, mental health issues, and added TV drama, is just such a wonderful feeling of relief and joy that I float along every time I watch it or listen to the soundtrack or think about it. And this is in stark contrast to Roy and Nathan, the protagonists of Grimsley’s second foray into the novel.

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Books

Book 929: Portrait of a Thief – Grace D. Li

Book cover of "Portrait of a Thief" with Amazon Affiliate linkI’m punching myself for not reading this book earlier AND for goofing off (aka knitting and Minecrafting) while reading it instead of blazing through it as it deserved. I’ve been sitting on this since November of LAST YEAR when someone in marketing at the publisher reached out with it.* I forced myself to wait until late March/early April to read it because I had a feeling I would really enjoy it and that barely covers my enthusiasm for it.

The premise was fascinating to me even if I was a bit wary of the Boston setting (I have bad experience with books being set where I live/have lived), but international art theft by college students, critiques on colonialism, BIPOC author, and characters, discussion of diaspora, ummm obviously I was going to say yes to it. I found out while reading the acknowledgments, that this has already been optioned by Netflix and I cannot tell you how much I’m ready for that!

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Updates

December Recap 2021

What a year! I’m not going to reminisce on yet another year spent in WFH and watching idiots around the country protest things that are designed to keep them safe. And honestly, I’m debating on if I’m going to do my usual Year-End recap (it’s a lot of work!).

I had big intentions of finishing 5 more books than I actually finished and getting them posted before 12/31, but when work gave us an extra week off (even though I had to work for a chunk of it) my schedule and plans got tossed out the window.

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