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 944: The Kingdom of Sand – Andrew Holleran

Book cover of "The Kingdom of Sand" with Amazon Affiliate linkI wanted to like this book so much like really wanted to, because Holleran is one of those early LGBT authors whose work has stood the test of time for decades. And that’s why I requested a copy from NetGalley.*

What I didn’t expect was how similar to Mrs. Dalloway and A Single Man this would be. I think that bodes well for the longevity of the novel, but unfortunately, for me, it wasn’t the time or place to read it to truly appreciate or enjoy it. While there were some incredibly beautiful passages throughout, I struggled to get into the book and (for the most part) identify with the nameless narrator.

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Books

Book 942: Shaun’s Salvation (Maine Men #5) – K.C. Wells

Book cover of "Shaun's Salvation" with Amazon Affiliate linkAnd Wells pulled me back in! Yes!!! I wasn’t sure she was going to be able to do it after the two lackluster offerings of Seb’s Summer and Dylan’s Dilemma, but she did with Shaun and Nathan’s stories.

Shaun is another member of the core group of friends that no one knows what his sexuality is. There are a couple of friends that are sort of nebulous/fluid and he’s one of them. He put his personal (and sexual) life on hold after his mom died of cancer in high school and his dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

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Books

Book 926: Khabaar – Madhushree Ghosh

Book cover of "Khabaar" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen the publicist reached out to me about this one, I wasn’t sure I had the capacity, but it was five months before it was published so I figured I’d make time!*

That sort of happened. Khabaar was on my TBR pile nonstop from February onward but between all the knitting I was doing and getting distracted by EVERY MM romance novel possible, I kept putting it off to my detriment.

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Books

Book 900: Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

Book cover of "Wuthering Heights" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhat a difference eight-ish years makes between reads. I last read this in November 2013 and had some interesting comparisons to Pride and Prejudice and observations about my own love life.

I’m not planning to reflect on that this time, for a couple of reasons, mainly that this read I really felt that perhaps the better Austen comparison is Fanny Price in Austen’s Mansfield Park rather than Darcy. I mean the whole nature versus nurture argument and how responsible are they for what happens and how much of an impact does their upbringing have? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS (and thoughts).

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