Tag: Coming Out

Books

Book 606: Call Me By Your Name – André Aciman

Geoff W

I don’t know why I didn’t read this when I got it way back in January of 2016. I got it two years before it was released widely and a year before it started to pick up steam and getting mentioned during every awards season blog post ever.

I was most impressed with how true to the book the film stayed. I could visualize 90% of the film as I read the book, and the 10% I couldn’t was easy enough to fill in with the characters from the film that I barely noticed it.

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Books

Book 590: #Hockey (Check, Please! #1) – Ngozi Ukazu

Geoff W

(Check out my updated 2020 response.)

My heart is glowing after reading this. Seriously—I will probably read it at least 2-3 more times before I surrender it to the library. There’s just something so sweet and innocent about this and I cannot wait to read volume two: Sticks and Scones.

I found this after Sarah over at Sarah Reads to Much released the list of the Morris Award finalists (which she helped select). The blurb and the cover pulled me in so I added it to my list to check out at some point and then it appeared on someone else’s blog and I was like alright I’m in.

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Books

Book 579: Geography Club (Russel Middlebrook #1) – Brent Hartinger

Geoff W

This book is definitely a bit dated, but still worth the read. Basically if this book and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli were merged it’d be perfect. And really, to be fair, Simon is an updated version of this down to the meeting online and ultimately meeting in person.

I think this book hit me a little stronger than Simon because it was written back when I was just finishing high school and I could relate to so much of it more so than the tech heavy (hello school Tumblr) “reboot” of the story. I mean chatrooms? YES! I remember going to the public library with my best friend after school so we could use the computers to chat with strangers online. It was crazy.

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ARC, Books

Book 571: Just Julian (Romeo & Julian #2) – Markus Harwood-Jones

Geoff W

I started Romeo for Real the morning after I finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and I finished before I got to work. That afternoon on the bus home I read this one and finished it before bed. Not only are these short works, but they are hi/lo novels that are designed for reluctant readers with easier language and fast paced as I found out when I got them from NetGalley*

It’s hard to separate this from Romeo for Real because they are the same story from opposite perspectives. I wouldn’t usually be mad at a decision to write like this, but the fact that they are separated into two books is frustrating. Neither book can stand on its own without leaving SO many questions unanswered and even together the two books don’t have enough character development to make them worth it.

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ARC, Books

Book 570: Romeo for Real (Romeo & Julian #1) – Markus Harwood-Jones

Geoff W

This book and the next book are companion novels, so they are intertwined. They are also apparently hi/lo novels, novels “intended for reluctant and struggling readers. As such it is fast-paced, short, and uses high interest content with simple vocabulary to keep these readers engaged.” And even knowing this I’m not sure they hit the mark.

I grabbed copies of these from NetGalley last month and only just got around to reading them in early August* because who doesn’t love an LGBT retelling of a classic? I know I do. Unfortunately, this part of the story, at least to my memory, was at such a minimum and tangential level it didn’t really work for me. It mostly came across in the main character’s names, Romeo Montague and Julian Capulet, and the very short time frame of the book.

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