ARC, Books

Book 718: The Deviant’s War – Eric Cervini

Cover art of "The Deviant's War" with Amazon affiliate linkEvery couple of years there’s a new kid on the block when it comes to the be-all-end all of LGBT nonfiction books. And every couple of year’s I’m sorely disappointed—I’m not sure if it has to do with the hype machine around the books, if it’s what they decide to focus on, or if it’s the author’s themselves (almost always cisgender white gay men).

When this book started to make waves in the LGBT book blogging community, I took notice. And then when I found out Cervini was giving a talk via the Boston Public Library (The Boston Calendar), I requested a copy of the book via NetGalley to see why there was so much hype.*

Continue reading “Book 718: The Deviant’s War – Eric Cervini”

ARC, Books

Book 658: The Children of Harvey Milk – Andrew Reynolds

Cover art of "The Children of Harvey Milk"I’m not sure how I stumbled across this one, but when I did back in May I requested a copy from the publisher and they kindly obliged.* I was interested because of the subject matter, but also because Reynolds is based at UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) and his name rang a bell because he’d chaired the Sexuality Studies program there at some point in the recent past. And then with my master’s degree focusing on the Civil Partnership Act (2014) in the UK, of course I was going to want to read this book and see what he had to say.

Continue reading “Book 658: The Children of Harvey Milk – Andrew Reynolds”

ARC, Books

Book 651: Sorted – Jackson Bird

book cover of I am always on board for reading anything from LGBTQ+ authors, but particularly nonfiction (memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, etc.). So when the publisher reached out about this one I downloaded it (and somehow actually got to it the week it was published).*

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I mean page one is a J.K. Rowling/Albus Dumbledore quote, of course I was going to enjoy this. I had no idea about Bird’s connection to Harry Potter (or that the Harry Potter Alliance, now known as Fandom Forward even existed)! This being said, I wasn’t totally enamored with the book and didn’t figure out why that was until roughly 80% of the way through the book.

Continue reading “Book 651: Sorted – Jackson Bird”

Books

Book 608: Worth Fighting For (Heart of the South #3) – Wendy Qualls

I’m going to go back on my word and say this might edge out Worth Waiting For as my favorite of the Heart of the South trilogy. As I said, I got this with a bunch of others last month when they went on sale.

Even more so than Worth Waiting For, this one seems to have more of an “agenda” (and I mean that in the least anti-politics way possible) of social acceptance. There was one line in the book that really summed it up for me: “God, was Jericho some kind of sexier, trans-friendly Mary Poppins?” (30)

Continue reading “Book 608: Worth Fighting For (Heart of the South #3) – Wendy Qualls”

ARC, Books

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

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.

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