Tag: UNC Chapel Hill

Books

Book 959: The Dove in the Belly – Jim Grimsley

Geoff W

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 835: Legendborn (Legendborn Cycle #1) – Tracy Deonn

Geoff W

Book cover of "Legendborn" with Amazon Affiliate linkI was on hold at the library for months to get this one! I vaguely remember it being released, but didn’t realize it’s connection to UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) until I saw the cover and Deonn in one of the alumni newsletters and then of course immediately had to read it, but was stifled by the long hold times :’-(

I wasn’t only drawn to it because of the UNC connection, but also because of the modern retelling of Arthurian legends. I knew this was going to be a fascinating take on them with a Black protagonist, southern history, secret societies, and the first public university in the country, how couldn’t it be!

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Books

Book 747: Camino Island – John Grisham

Geoff W

Book cover of "Camino Island" with amazon affiliate linkI read this after a coworker passed it on because he knew I loved books and this is a book about a book theft from a world class library and then set in a bookstore featuring mostly authors and booksellers. I mean come on that’s like catnip to a book blogger, right?

Unfortunately, this book was 100% forgettable. I’m not sure if it has to do with it not being a legal thriller or if it has to do with the weird split narrative. But whatever it was I just wasn’t feeling it.

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Books

Book 719: Wheels Up (Out of Uniform #4) – Annabeth Albert

Geoff W

Cover art of "Wheels Up" with Amazon Affiliate linkI’m not sure if this is Albert’s first foray into kink, but honestly it was a little underwhelming on the kink front. The only reason I mention this and start my review with it is I feel like there was a warning or a mention of it in the front matter and I was like oh this should be interesting.

Maybe I’ve just read works with a lot more kink in them, even though it’s not my usual fare, but this one just seemed so tame. Either way, Albert continues to bring beautifully written character driven romances to my world, tugging at my heart strings will making me blush constantly.

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ARC, Books

Book 560: Camp Austen – Ted Scheinman

Geoff W

I reached out to the publisher for a copy of this book when I saw the author, Ted Scheinman, was going to be in Boston giving a talk at the BPL.* Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it as it was the same day we moved houses (in a snow storm no less), but if you’re on the west coast, he’ll be talking about this at Skylight Books in LA this Saturday, July 21! (Skylight Books LA website)

I’m torn about my review. I’m wondering if I had the opportunity to hear him speak about the book and his experience, if my response would be different. I read his interview with the Jane Austen Summer program, but there are things you can only tell when you listen and watch someone interact with others.

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